Bradley James Weber

Startling Stories for All Ages

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My Dead Grandmother Keeps Getting Mail

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Dec. 30, 2017 — This comic was first published on May 31, 2007. Nearly eight years later and it still holds up. Nearly 25 years after my grandmother died and I still miss her.

Scroll down to the gallery and click on the first image to view it all. 

Here it is! The long-awaited, much-touted mystery comic. It took nine months to do, but the finished story came out much better than expected thanks to two key people:

  • The wife, who aided with various visual elements and let me tie up her iMac for a whole day.
  • My wonderful and tolerant mother, who provided old snapshots and acted as a photo reference without asking too many questions. (And to think she was worried I was going to do something weird with those pictures.)

This comic is dedicated with a great deal of love to the memory of my grandmother — who really did die 14 years ago and whose mail still gets delivered to my house.

I miss you, Charlie. Now more than ever.

 

Noble Failure #5 (Another 24-Hour Comic)

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NOBLE FAILURE #5 (May 2007)

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HUZZAH!!

At last, a full 24-page comic. It took 32 hours to complete. The extra time included a much needed nap and two — yes, TWO — trips to the orthodontist. Without the various interruptions, the book would have clocked-in at 26 hours, so it was going to be noble failure either way. Still, I’m fairly pleased with this effort.

Scanning/rescanning, sizing, and uploading all these pages has eaten-up all this week’s hours allocated for blogging. Rest assured, though: there will be more details soon on the overall process, this particular issue, and what was done differently to help me finally hit the standard page count.

Meanwhile, enjoy!

Have a safe and happy holiday weekend.

 

Parnassius Autocrator (1995)

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(click here for more detail)

There was no plan for this piece. I made a frame, stretched some canvas and started gelling on pieces from a discard copy of J. D. Salinger’s RAISE THE ROOF BEAM HIGH, CARPENTERS. When it became clear that was going nowhere, on went some paint.

It almost stopped with the lightbulb, but something was missing. Why would all eyes in this painting be staring at lightbulb? (And what is it with me and monsters, anyway? Sheesh.)

Bruce mentioned a trick he learned at college: if a painting is giving you trouble, look at it in a mirror. Seeing the work in a different way might make the problem clear.

And damnit if that didn’t work.
[Read more…] about Parnassius Autocrator (1995)

Bathroom Ads Go Digital

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A couple of weeks ago the wife, then kid, and I went to Chicago’s very own John G. Shedd Aquarium. If you haven’t been there in a while, you owe yourself a trip. If you’re an out-of-town reader and you come to the Windy City, an afternoon at the Shedd needs to be on your itinerary.

While there, if you find it necessary to heed nature’s call, you’ll find these in the bathrooms: The Digital Washroom Advertising System by Impressionaire.

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“ImpressionAire places digitally-equipped warm air hand dryers in high profile, high traffic public washrooms. Your ad message is displayed every 30 seconds around the clock on a high-tech flat panel computer screen.

The viewer looks at your ad while drying hands in a venue that is free of traditional advertising.

Target male or female washrooms, change your message overnight and reinforce your total media campaign with this unique new advertising venue.”

I have to admit, it’s a clever and well-executed idea. But, while curiosity makes me wonder about advertising costs and administration, I can’t help but be annoyed that I’m forced to endure commercials in the bathroom. Is there no escape?

Has anybody run into these hand dryers elsewhere — in the US or the world?