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.

Archives: TPD 304 – Why Animal Characters?

While making The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue I recorded a bunch of reflections on why and how I was making the book. These microcasts were shared exclusively with people who supported me on Patreon (I’m sharing the entire process of making the next Doctor Baer story there right now!).

To count down to the book’s release, I’m putting some of those reflections into the Thunder Punch Daily feed. Please note: the book was titled Baron von Bear and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue at the time of this recording. But baronvonbear.com does take you to the book’s landing page. Here’s the original post:

Another one from the Thoughts/Questions/Wonderings form!

I’ve noticed animals are a shortcut to mean ‘wholesome’. Do you think storytelling tropes like this have an effect on the types of children’s stories made?

So today I talk about why I chose to make the characters in my book talking animals.

And I talk a bit about Michael Meade’s Living Myth podcast, which is terrific!

Archives: TPD 304 – Why Animal Characters? Read More »

Archives: TPD 301 – How I Deal With Negative Feedback

While making The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue I recorded a bunch of reflections on why and how I was making the book. These microcasts were shared exclusively with people who supported me on Patreon (I’m sharing the entire process of making the next Doctor Baer story there right now!).

To count down to the book’s release, I’m putting some of those reflections into the Thunder Punch Daily feed. Please note: the book was titled Baron von Bear and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue at the time of this recording. But baronvonbear.com does take you to the book’s landing page. Here’s the original post:

Another question from the Thoughts/Questions/Wonderings form!

How do you deal with personal, non-constructive, negative feedback about your completed work?

Which leads me to tell a story about this drawing and why it hurt:

Archives: TPD 301 – How I Deal With Negative Feedback Read More »

Archives: TPD 297 – The Hero and Villain are in Me

While making The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue I recorded a bunch of reflections on why and how I was making the book. These microcasts were shared exclusively with people who supported me on Patreon (I’m sharing the entire process of making the next Doctor Baer story there right now!).

To count down to the book’s release, I’m putting some of those reflections into the Thunder Punch Daily feed. Please note: the book was titled Baron von Bear and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue at the time of this recording. But baronvonbear.com does take you to the book’s landing page. Here’s the original post:

This time I talk about how the hero and villain of Baron von Bear and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue were partially informed by my own internal arguments and times where I haven’t shown up as my best self.

Archives: TPD 297 – The Hero and Villain are in Me Read More »

Archives: TPD 296 – KidLit Authors Take a Kid’s Perspective

While making The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue I recorded a bunch of reflections on why and how I was making the book. These microcasts were shared exclusively with people who supported me on Patreon (I’m sharing the entire process of making the next Doctor Baer story there right now!).

To count down to the book’s release, I’m putting some of those reflections into the Thunder Punch Daily feed. Please note: the book was titled Baron von Bear and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue at the time of this recording. But baronvonbear.com does take you to the book’s landing page. Here’s the original post:

I’m answering another prompt provided by a listener!

Many children’s media creators have children and claim they are a huge source of inspiration. Do you feel like your storytelling craft suffers from not raising children yourself?

For me, it’s all about taking a kid’s perspective, which we all have access to, since we were all kids.

Archives: TPD 296 – KidLit Authors Take a Kid’s Perspective Read More »

Archives: TPD 295 – [Doctor Baer] is Indiana Jones in Reverse

While making The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue I recorded a bunch of reflections on why and how I was making the book. These microcasts were shared exclusively with people who supported me on Patreon (I’m sharing the entire process of making the next Doctor Baer story there right now!).

To count down to the book’s release, I’m putting some of those reflections into the Thunder Punch Daily feed. Please note: the book was titled Baron von Bear and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue at the time of this recording. But baronvonbear.com does take you to the book’s landing page. Here’s the original post:

Today I share how the Indiana Jones movies influenced Baron von Bear and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue, and how the book answers some mixed feelings I have about Indy.

Archives: TPD 295 – [Doctor Baer] is Indiana Jones in Reverse Read More »

Archives: TPD 294 – Putting My Beliefs in [Doctor Baer]

While making The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue I recorded a bunch of reflections on why and how I was making the book. These microcasts were shared exclusively with people who supported me on Patreon (I’m sharing the entire process of making the next Doctor Baer story there right now!).

To count down to the book’s release, I’m putting some of those reflections into the Thunder Punch Daily feed. Please note: the book was titled Baron von Bear and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue at the time of this recording. But baronvonbear.com does take you to the book’s landing page. Here’s the original post:

This time I respond to a prompt provided by a listener: Do you feel your political beliefs make their way into your work, would you want them to, and how would you feel if someone challenged you on teaching your beliefs to children?

So this one is all about how I think about expressing my beliefs in my work.

Archives: TPD 294 – Putting My Beliefs in [Doctor Baer] Read More »

Archives: TPD 293 – Why I Won’t Glamorize Violence

While making The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue I recorded a bunch of reflections on why and how I was making the book. These microcasts were shared exclusively with people who supported me on Patreon (I’m sharing the entire process of making the next Doctor Baer story there right now!).

To count down to the book’s release, I’m putting some of those reflections into the Thunder Punch Daily feed. Please note: the book was titled Baron von Bear and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue at the time of this recording. But baronvonbear.com does take you to the book’s landing page. Here’s the original post:

Baron von Bear and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue celebrates the physical peril of adventure fiction. But it does not celebrate the act of physically overcoming an enemy. Today I share how my upbringing and media of the 80s helped shape this value in my storytelling.

Archives: TPD 293 – Why I Won’t Glamorize Violence Read More »

Archives: TPD 292 – I love Cartoonishly Mythical Locations

While making The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue I recorded a bunch of reflections on why and how I was making the book. These microcasts were shared exclusively with people who supported me on Patreon (I’m sharing the entire process of making the next Doctor Baer story there right now!).

To count down to the book’s release, I’m putting some of those reflections into the Thunder Punch Daily feed. Please note: the book was titled Baron von Bear and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue at the time of this recording. But baronvonbear.com does take you to the book’s landing page. Here’s the original post:

Baron von Bear is a spooky fantasy adventure graphic novel for middle graders. That genre comes with the expectation of fantastic locations. This time I dig into why I chose the ones I did, why I chose three, and how these kinds of settings worked on me as a child.

Suggest a thought/question/wondering here! 

Links mentioned:

Archives: TPD 292 – I love Cartoonishly Mythical Locations Read More »

Talismans For Sale!

It’s only a few more weeks until The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue comes out! To celebrate, I’m finally rolling out the in-world talismans on my Etsy store. These hand-made ceramic pendants were created by me and each are one of a kind. Each comes with a vinyl necklace cord, hand-printed canvas bag, lore sheet, and a Doctor Baer postcard.

The lore sheet explains where these objects are found and how they were used in Doctor Baer’s world. Think of these as little trinkets you’d get in his gift shop after seeing his house full of spooky curiosities. And they’ll get to you just around the time you can pick up the book. Enter the spooky imaginal space of the story, and leave with an artifact from it!

You can get the Wind Witch Madstone, a ceramic pendant with “magic” glow-in-the-dark glaze:

Or the Stone Protection Talisman:

Or the Fire Skeleton Talisman:

Thanks to everyone who has preordered Doctor Baer, and early thanks to those who purchase a piece of his world!

Talismans For Sale! Read More »

Talking Christmas Transformers

Gerry of the Totally Rad Christmas podcast invited me on to talk about some Transformers UK comics with Christmas themes. Anyone who misses the Four Million Years Later podcast will get to hear me go on about Starscream and Optimus both losing their drive and coming around to the spirit of the season.

Listen and subscribe below!

And in case you missed my interview with Gerry on The Inscrutable Doctor Baer, here it is:

Heartfelt thanks to Gerry for having me on his podcast twice!

Talking Christmas Transformers Read More »