doctorbaer

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.

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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:

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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!

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Guest Hosting Ben & Zack’s Monster Market!

My friend Zack Giallongo was kind enough to ask me to sit in for co-host Ben Hatke on episode 11 of the Monster Market podcast. We discussed six of our favorite monsters from literature (which I interpreted a little loosely, at least for one of my picks.) We discussed them, then drew them. Here are my picks:

The Un-Man, from C.S. Lewis’ Perelandra.

Baba Yaga, the ambiguous witch mother.

And the Linen Monster from M.R. James’ Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad.

We also talked about our own monster creations, and my entry was the Living Doll from The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue:

You can see Zack’s entries here.

Subscribe to the Monster Market podcast to hear more from Zack and Ben!

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TPD 346 – Characters: Taft

I’m talking aggressive battle tortoises on this edition of Thunder Punch Daily. Why is Taft a tortoise, and why does he walk on all fours? And how is he inspired by my younger brother?

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Let’s Make Cursed Objects Together!

This Saturday, August 3, marks the one-month countdown to the release of The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue, and I’m celebrating with live streams where we can collaborate to make some spooky drawings!

For those who are new to Doctor Baer, he’s a dealer in occult objects. My middle-grade graphic novel is the story of how this spooky archivist learns to become an adventurer when his collection is released into the world. So the objects we make could be items in his collection!

I’ve been making these drawings at various events this summer. All I ask is that you show up with the following:

  • A spooky or silly story from your life (I can handle heavy materials, but for the purposes of this live stream I ask that you keep it on the light side)
  • A description or picture of a beloved object you own or owned

You can use the form below to send me the info I need to draw your custom cursed object. You can tune into the live stream to watch it come together, and I’ll even mail you the drawing when it’s done.

Next Live Stream is scheduled for August 17 at 3pm EDT!

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TPD 345 – Characters: Wilhelmina

It’s time to talk about another character who shows up in The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue. But this time I turn to talking about one of the villains, who happens to be the character I relate to the most viscerally.

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TPD Special – Marketing Your Personal Work Like a Pro, with Rob Stenzinger

In early July 2024 my old friend Rob Stenzinger visited me in Columbus, and we found ourselves having the kinds of discussions we recorded for the Lean Into Art cast. Particularly topics surrounding our projects we’ve been working on for the past two-to-three years and how we’re thinking about marketing them. So we turned on a mic and captured some of the thinking we’ve been doing.

We set up pretty hastily, so the audio quality isn’t what we had on Lean Into Art. But the gentle, thoughtful approach to art-making topics is all there. I hope you enjoy it!

Links mentioned:

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Pickles is Ready for Promo

https://www.youtube.com/@madebykokoro

A piece I worked on during my trip to San Diego for the American Library Association Annual Conference. It was a fun trip where I got to promote Doctor Baer to librarians, reconnect with friends, and check out the San Diego Padres’ baseball park (sadly, they weren’t playing at home that weekend).

It’s feeling like book tour/promo mode is officially underway, and it’s a wild feeling. I’ll have more reflections to share in text and in future Fabulous Secrets microcasts.

My thanks to Chloe Cordero for the color assists on this piece.

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