Cei-U!'s Sketchbook

[Cei-U!]

As some of you already know, I had a very brief "career" as a comic artist waaaaaay back in 1981 (though my sole assignment, a Dr. Strange inventory story, never saw print... thank God!). I walked away from art as a profession not long after but I still put pen to paper from time to time.

Howyadoin kindly scanned some of my work for me when Koop and I visited him in Vancouver a few years ago (and some of those pix can be seen here) but he was barely able to scratch the surface. Since I have temporary custody of my nephew's scanner, I decided it was time to preserve more of my silly scribblings for posterity. Hence, this thread.

Two things to keep in mind as you poke around in my virtual attic. First, most of these sketches were drawn in ballpoint pen with no preliminary penciling and are quite small. Second, I have a short attention span so few of these are what I would consider "finished." As for content, there's tons of sketches of Marvel, DC and original super-characters but it's the random (and wholly inexplicable) musings in the margins that I have the most fun with.

And that's what I'm posting to start with, cartoons that have no purpose for existance other than to entertain me. Like this one.

Enjoy... and be kind!

Cei-U!
I summon the archives!

[Cei-U!]

Here's one I have absolutely no explanation for: Sal A. Mander At Home

Cei-U!
I summon the pater familias!

[Cei-U!]

Once I walked away from art as a profession, getting me to take an assignment was next to impossible... unless you were my mother. That woman was relentless when it came to guilting me out of artwork!

Cei-U!
Wishes he could've used this in the "Mom" avatar contest a couple weeks back!

[Cei-U!]

They may not all be funny animals but I'm pretty sure everybody knows someone like Maynard.

Cei-U!
I summon the leonine mullet!

[Cei-U!]

There's an awful lot of bad art in my sketchbooks I won't be subjecting you to but I can't resist include a certain one-eyed sailor man's critique of same.

Cei-U!
I summon the spinach!

[Roquefort Raider]

Kurt, you never cease to amaze me. I really love your art -classy, clean, expressive, and beautifully free of a certain Lee/Liefeld/Silvestri aesthetics that is so pervasive today.

I would love to see your Dr. Strange story. Do you maybe have any old photocopies of it?

[Cei-U!]

I would love to see your Dr. Strange story. Do you maybe have any old photocopies of it?

The original art was destroyed in a house fire, Ben, and as far as I know there are no existing copies. You wouldn't have been impressed. I hadn't grown into my style yet and it consisted almost entirely of Ditko, Colan and Brunner swipes (with backgrounds swiped from Ross Andru's Spidey stories).

Cei-U!
I summon the lost hackwork!

[howyadoin]

Ah, nice to see these again. I'd been meaning to ask if you wanted to start another thread after the old got got deleted during Zero Hour.

[Cei-U!]

A little more silliness before I get to the "serious" art:

This one I call, for obvious reasons, Easy on the lighter fluid!

Cei-U!
I summon the parbroiled barbequer!

[Cei-U!]

Your guess is as good as mine.

Cei-U!
I summon the whatsis!

[Cei-U!]

O'Leary's Books was the #1 comic book outlet in Tacoma for more than twenty years. It was at O'Leary's that I set up my first pull list, way back in the summer of 1980 (and considering I averaged between 45-50 titles a month, they were glad to have my business). A few years later, the owner commissioned me to design him a mascot, specifically a leprecaun super-hero.

O'Leary's is gone now, sort of. Actually it relocated to Australia a couple of years ago, as I learned when a friend down under sent me a bagged comic book whose label bore me foine old friend. Makes me feel positively cosmopolitan!

Cei-U!
I summon the intercontinental icon!

[Cei-U!]

A few years ago, a friend commissioned me to design a poster of his favorite Silver Age Marvel characters. Sadly, a sudden and unforeseen heart attack took him away before I'd done more than a handful of preliminary sketches. I showed him this thumbnail just two days before his death. He was contagiously enthusiastic about the basic design. I did a few further studies based on this drawing (which I'll post later) but after his passing, I couldn't bring myself to continue.

Cei-U!
I summon the inadequate epitaph!

[elheffe]

Kurt, as always it's great to see your work! The real treat was seeing in person that one time at SDCC.

[Cei-U!]

As this sketch of The Hulk suggests, the Marvel poster mentioned above was going to be drawn in a bit more cartoony style than my usual, sort of a Bruce Timm look. By contrast, here is a more recent drawing of Big Green that more closely reflects his Silver Age beginnings.

Cei-U!
I summon the choice!

[Cei-U!]

I like the anatomy in this drawing of Daredevil. I'm not always so successful in getting the proportions right.

Cei-U!
I summon the man without fear!