In the Lab
A Doctor Baer art drop from a few years back.
Back when I had a phone I could draw on I had a lot of fun playing in Ibis Paint. 2018, I think?
Doctor Baer Leaps Into Action Read More »
I’m working on updating some character designs for a new book pitch. Find them on my Patreon!
I’m live streaming on Twitch at 3pm ET/2pm CT/Noon PT Saturday, March 25. Join me while I ink and we can talk comics or about how our bodies decline as we get older!
Talkin’ Bifocals/Progressives Read More »
Colors are underway on A Friendly Game! I finished this page in less than an hour (and just as Team Venezuela took the lead in the World Baseball Classic Quarterfinals), so I’m hopeful about the progress on this little project!
Coloring A Friendly Game Read More »
Inking some comics tonight. My compost farming stag beetle meets a bully chicken.
That cute stag beetle ? Read More »
Who here remembers the smarmy mercenary from The Front: Rebirth? I’m playing with getting him into my talking animals world of Doctor Baer and Boulder and Fleet.
Sketching Dick Kourage Read More »
More sketching and searching for ideas for another book. Mercenaries argue over the most popular game in my talking animals world.
A Five Stone Disagreement Read More »
Some Saturday night sketching while watching Svengoolie.
I’m starting to like this guy.
The Scheming Count Read More »
Something I often tell my students: Your first idea may be the best, but you won’t know that unless you test it. I want to start by spoiling the ending: I’m feeling grateful and comfortable with where I’ve landed with this.
I recently discovered there’s a character named Baron von Bear in a popular series (if you’re really interested, you can search for it). It was tough to sit with this, especially right after finishing a 217-page graphic novel and ten years of sharing drawings of my Baron. All sorts of angry and sad voices shouted inside of me. I’d spent so much time developing this character. Revisiting what to even call him felt like ten steps backward.
I sat with those frustrated voices for a while. I’ll bet there’s a good chance we can prove we used the name first, they said. Let’s go get them. I thought about what fighting for the name might look like.
Then I remembered that the character’s name wasn’t always Baron von Bear. Ten years ago I had been calling him Doctor Bear:
He’s a scholar of the occult, I remembered. His character is inspired by sage heroes like Professor Van Helsing. Like Dr. Sam Beckett, my bear probably has dozens of degrees in various fields. So yeah, why wouldn’t he be a doctor? I liked the title baron as it’s someone who has inherited something regardless of deserving. But a doctorate is something you earn. So he’d be even more invested in his identity as an occult expert. Which could make his confrontation with that identity even more delicious (spoilers!).
What if the first name, Doctor Bear, was the right one all along?
So here’s to Doctor Baer, Occult Archivist:
I came across the name von Baer while searching for derivations of Doctor Bear. And I liked the German spelling. It leaned a little more toward that Van Helsing influence, it was farther away from Baron von Bear, and I could get the dot com domain.
I’ll also admit I liked giving my character a name people would likely misspell or trip over. He’ll companion me every time someone addresses me as Jerry or Jersey.
Now I’m off to update the landing page, the cover art, the interior art, marketing materials, and everything else I’ve slapped that name on over the last few years. Not a terrible tradeoff for making a book that matters to me!
Three Cheers for Doctor Baer Read More »