2011-08-29

Headache & Nausea p.3

Headache and Nausea page 3

Transcript

Nausea paused, glancing back at the sleeping man. “I didn’t actually wait up all night for it, though, I just kinda showed up in the morning.

“Yeah, this is pretty boring,” said Headache. “Wanna split?”

“Yeah.”

The man slept alone in his room for a little while, and then a conversation came through his window:

“Well, if it isn’t our ol’ buddy Bodily Aches!”

“Hey, what are you fellas up to?”

“Not much, just out on the town.”

“Hey, you wanna go to the bar and find someone to have us over for breakfast?”

“Sure!”

“Ha ha, all right!”

The conversation moved away, becoming indistinct except for some laughter.

The next morning, the man woke up looking happy (and bedheaded). “Whew! I feel better!” he said.

2011-08-25

Headache & Nausea p.2

Headache and Nausea page 2

Transcript

The man leaned toward his computer, wincing in pain and sickness.

“Man, I’m diggin’ this noisy music!” said Headache. “What is it?”

The man walked unsteadily to his bedroom. “I think I’m just going to go to bed,” he said.

“What?!” said Headache. “It’s early!”

As the man huddled under his covers, groaning, Nausea said, “Okay, well, we’ll see you tomorrow!” The man fell asleep and Nausea turned to Headache. “Ha ha, oh man, so one time I’m at this guy’s house, right, when he wakes up…”

Colin’s sat up in bed, holding his stomach. “Ugh, I don’t feel so good,” he said. “Maybe I should call in sick…” Nausea, sitting on the sheets, smiled. Colin started to get out of bed. “Well, maybe I’ll feel better with some food in me…” Suddenly he could feel he was about to vomit. He ran for the door with Nausea holding onto him, then threw up in the doorway as Nausea did a happy little dance.

“Ha, ha, WHAM! Just like that! it was only like two steps from his bed to the door, but it just hit him so fast!” Headache and Nausea both laughed as Nausea finished his story.

True story!

2011-08-22

Headache & Nausea p.1

Headache and Nausea page 1

Transcript

A short, amorphous blob with arms, legs, & face walks down a sidewalk and suddenly waves.
“Headache, how’s it going?” it says.
“All right, Nausea,” responds a short, spiky being coming the opposite way, “What’s shakin’?”
“Not much, just – oh, hey, I haven’t seen that guy in a while – let’s go say hi!”
“Okay!”
The two run up a set of front steps behind a man with a tote bag entering an apartment building.
“Buddy! How are ya!” exclaims Nausea.
The man turns in alarm to see Headache & Nausea standing in the doorway. “Uh…busy,” he says.
“Cool!” says Nausea
They follow as he walks away.
“We thought we’d just drop by, catch up, rock out, y’know?” Headache says.
“Eaten anything interesting lately?” Nausea asks as the man sits down at a TV tray, starting to look ill.
“Guys,” he says, looking stressed, “I’ve got a lot of stuff to do, and I can’t do it with you here.”
Headache & Nausea are totally unfazed. “Aw, you can take a break!” says Nausea. “How often do we see each other?”
2011-08-18

The Water Dogs 2

The Water Dogs page 2

Transcript

Watching the distant dogs play in the water, Colin thinks, :They seem kind of small for wolves…” As they move out the picture, he thinks, “We’re in Portland – they must be someone’s dogs… very independent dogs.” He watches the water for a while after they’ve left.

Later, his roommate says, “They were probably coyotes.”

“I…didn’t know we had coyotes in New England.”

“Yeah, they’ve actually gotten to be kind of a nuisance in the suburbs.”

“Huh!”

NARRATION: Since moving back to New Hampshire, I’ve seen coyotes four times while driving. IMAGE: Headlight beams in a rural road at night, coyote walking along the shoulder.

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department says coyotes came to the state in the 1940s – and they’re bigger than and different from their ancestors because they interbred with wolves along the way! Now they’re common in every county.

I drew half of this page this past Sunday at the 8 Days of Weeks festival in Lancaster, NH and finished it at home last night.

Learn more about Eastern Coyotes at the NH Fish & Game Department and more about their genetic relationship with wolves at the Boston Globe.

2011-08-15

The Water Dogs 1

The Water Dogs page 1

Transcript

A man walks past some shops.
Narration: “I liked living in Portland, Maine, but after a while I missed walking in the woods.”
He walks a muddy path through tall rushes.
Narration: “A coworker recommended a river preserve just inside the city limits. As I walked in the forested section…”
SPLASH! The man looks right, then walks off the path toward a place above some water. Two distant shapes are swimming. “Ah, dogs,” he thinks. As he watches them, he thinks, “They look kinda wolfy…I don’t see an owner anywhere…”, then continues to watch them quietly.

This is the first page of the comic I drew yesterday at Weeks State Park in Lancaster, NH as part of the 8 Days of Weeks White Mountains Cultural Festival. Marek Bennett and I enticed passerby into drawing comics about the woods, the mountains, their experiences in the White Mountains National Forest, etc. – and fairness (and fun) demanded that we draw some too. I’ll post the other page later this week.

2011-08-12

Forest Comics Activity at Weeks Act Festival 8/14

Oh hey, I’m doing a thing this weekend:

Make forest comics with Weeks Act Comics Artist Marek Bennett (who will also lead a musical “Forest Jamboree”) and cartoonist Colin Tedford this coming Sunday 8/14 at Weeks State Park in Lancaster, NH. Work on your Woods anthology submission in a beautiful setting! It’s one of many great activities at the 8 Days of Weeks White Mountain Cultural Festival, celebrating 100 years of the Weeks Act (you know, the one that established the US National Forests?) every weekend in August.

2011-08-10

My Dance Power

A recent comment on Square Dance #5:

Hi there,

Just wanted you to know how much I enjoyed this article. It’s obvious that you know dancing. Your site really is awesome.

Thank you for your efforts!

I’m glad that my dance power is so amazing it shines through even in totally unrelated endeavors! I’m less glad that this commenter (whose name linked to an online dance school) enjoyed the shop listing but enough enough to buy : ‘ (

At least my efforts are appreciated.

2011-08-09

What I’ve been up to

Sorry I’ve been away, Internet! I thought things would calm down after Water, which they did but only relatively; I immediately had to throw myself into preparations for the next anthology Woods, then the summer cluster of birthdays, then at some point  I started having really productive brainstorms.

Current projects:

  • Pursue drawn journalism – I want to draw more nonfiction but haven’t, mainly because it’s more work. Enter “comics journalism” and bushels of excitement!
  • “Community Comics” presentation & comic (& maybe workshop).
  • Trees & Hills logo (finally)!
  • Trees & Hills anthology #11, Woods.
  • A new Halloween Comics project.
  • Make comics templates.
  • Overhaul the Trees & Hills website. Among other exciting changes, we’re gonna have a wiki!
  • Overhaul this website (again). The software’s outdated & I have a sneaky spam problem, plus I want to change some things anyway.
  • Trees & Hills reorganization.
  • Prepare for the next Offshore Comix anthology.
  • “Get organized” (ongoing, recently reinvigorated)
  • Transition from Windows to Linux. I think I can finally relegate Windows to its proper place on a dusty shelf, but I have to set up & test some stuff first.
  • Go back “on tour” – so far I have a couple events lined up this month and one in September. I expect to start doing more once the Community Comics presentation is ready.
  • Fix sleep schedule (ongoing) – more daylight hours would make all of this a lot easier! At least now when I’m up too late I’m usually accomplishing a lot instead of just reading the internet (enriching though that may be).
  • So many comics to draw!

So despite the lack of drawing, I’m plenty busy. Despite which, I promise new comics soon!

2011-06-09

A Common Resource p.1

A Common Resource page 1

Transcript

A COMMON RESOURCE copyright 2011 Colin Tedford

1. In 2001, the corporation USA Springs set its sights on Nottingham, NH, aiming to extract 430,000 gallons a day of the town’s water and convert it to profits.
[IMAGE: a tall robotic machine labeled “USA SPRINGS” strides down a curved road from the distance, toward a sign that reads, “Entering Nottingham”]

2. After initial approval from the town government, many residents objected on the grounds that the water bottling plant would drain the aquifer, draw pollutants into it, and damage wetlands.
[IMAGE: Angry protesters with signs. One speaks a word balloon containing a picture of a puzzled person turning on their sink tap and only getting a drip, and another picture of the robotic USA SPRINGS machine sucking water through a flexible pipe stuck in the ground. A man in a suit pilots the machine, and a rapidly-filling bag attached to the rear of the machine bears a dollar sign.]

3. Nottingham citizens worked tirelessly to learn the ins and outs of the regulatory system.
[IMAGE: Protesters trying to navigate a maze; the leader has a map and looks stressed.]

4. Unfortunately, they learned that the rights of corporations trump those of people, as their challenges were dismissed, or won and then overturned.
[IMAGE: The protesters, having reached a dead end in the maze, watch in alarm as the USA SPRINGS machine strides down a straight corridor through the center of the maze, just on the other side of the wall.]

Here’s the first page of my comic in WATER, the new Trees & Hills anthology. To read the rest, pick up a copy – it’s full of good comics!

2011-06-08

Thirsty for comics? WATER is here!

The new Trees & Hills anthology WATER debuted at MECAF a couple weeks ago, and now you can buy it online from our shop! You can see its hand-printed cover to the right there, looking cool in the Ashuelot River.

WATER contains 56 pages about the Connecticut River, the Weeks Act, the Lake Champlain monster, a sad lamprey, the Nahr El Kalb Valley in Lebanon, Jenny Greenteeth, childhood summers at Laurel Lake, communities fighting water-bottling corporations, and more! Includes the last comics of Mark “Sparky” Whitcomb with an appreciation by Stephen R. Bissette. 10% of all proceeds go to the Connecticut River Watershed Council.

WATER features the talents of Daniel Barlow, Marek Bennett, Stephen R. Bissette, Jesse DuRona, Glynnis Fawkes, Sam Leveillee, Matt Levin, Mike Lynch, Madsahara, Elizabeth Neronski, Colin Tedford, Anne Thalheimer, Mark “Sparky” Whitcomb, and Matt Young.

Go get it!

2011-05-30

How many pages have I drawn & printed?

A fellow cartoonist writes, “I’ve walked around telling people I’m a cartoonist, but how many comics have I really done? Whole comic books, mini-comics, strips all together? Fifty full pages of comics? Eighty?” I’ve had similar thoughts on occasion, so reading this made me wonder just how many pages I’ve drawn and published.

It turns out the answer is around 290 (using a 5.5″ x 8.5″ page as a standard unit).

  • 5 issues of Square Dance = 104 pages.
  • 5 issues of Before Sleep = 80 pages (I’m counting each page as half a page because they’re only 5.5″ x 4.25″. Note also that I only printed half of the strips I drew for Before Sleep).
  • Entries in 9 Trees & Hills anthologies = 38 pages (12 of them written by other people).
  • Entries in other anthologies (Always Comix, Big Sexy, Candy or Medicine (small pages counted as half), High Maintenance Machine guest strip (small counted as half), and Secrets & Lies (large page counted as double) = 14 pages.
  • 24 hour comics = 48 pages (not counting the second one, part of which I used in an issue of Square Dance & the rest of which remains unpublished. The first one had 8.5″ x 11″ pages, but I’m still counting it as just 24).
  • Minicomics not yet reprinted in Square Dance = 6 (all small pages counted as half or less).

If I counted comics I’ve published online but not on paper, it would add another 90 or so pages.

Those 290 pages are spread over the seven or so years(!) since I decided to “be a cartoonist”, averaging about 40 pages (or about two zines) a year. That’s less than my current goal of 100+ pages a year, and I know people’s who’ve drawn my seven-year total in much less time, but I still find it a comforting number. It’s not bad for someone who works a day job and devotes a lot of time to non-drawing comics activities (ie, co-organizing Trees & Hills),  and I hadn’t realized I’d drawn & published so many pages.

Here’s to many more!

2011-05-26

Continental breakfast while you wait

New comics are still a little ways off, as there are a couple anthologies I want to submit to with June 1 deadlines – hopefully I’ll make one of them (two seems very unlikely). In the meantime, I’ve brought in a band to entertain you:

MC Toasty Toast & DJ Cherry Muffin

Stand back when they bust out the jams!

2011-05-25

Back from making Water (ahem)

Sorry I haven’t been posting comics lately. I got caught up in last-minute anthology production rush and the touring season. The new Trees & Hills anthology Water is out and coming soon to an online shop near you!

For copies of the Trees and Hills comics anthology "Water"