Squeaky Squeakums, star of my latest comic is honoring Black Cat Appreciation Day. (August 18th) She got her demon buddy Magnus Maximus to round up a few of her black kitty sisters.
Squeaky Squeakums and Maximus celebrate Black Cat Appreciation Day. Based on the comic written and drawn by Michele Witchipoo, on WitchesBrewPress. Aug. 2019.
Black cats are awesome indeed. Despite their beauty, black and tuxedo cats have a hard time finding forever homes. ‘Tis a shame. I’ve personally found black and tuxedo cats to be quite smart. The real life Squeaky (who passed away a few months ago) was clever – especially when it came to food. So go down to your local shelter and adopt a black or tuxedo cat of your own today.
Squeaky was also the real life muse behind my latest comic. Available for order.
Cover for ‘The Temptation of Squeaky’ written and drawn by Michele Witchipoo. Available on WitchesBrewPress. Spring/Summer 2019.
By now I should’ve posted the Psycho Bunny sketch of The Week. Unfortunately, something tragic happened over the past weekend.
On Sunday, June 16, 2019, between 2:30-2:35pm, my cat Squeaky, who I based my latest comic The Temptation of Squeaky dropped her body. Our guess being she was around 19 years old in cat years.
Squeaky Squeakums. Beloved feline of Michele Witchipoo. (? – 2019)
Supposedly Squeaky was born in Salem, Massachusetts, then brought to The Bronx, New York. Her first human ended up moving back to Massachusetts, abandoning Squeaky in the process. A former friend took her in. At the time he was also bouncing around from home to home until he met his partner. Those two ended up adopting more cats, dogs, and reptiles. By the time we took Squeaky in, the two humans ended up with ten cats. Squeaky got lost in the shuffle. She spent the majority of her time hiding behind the apartment radiator.
The final straw was when the human decided to bring in a cat of the Turkish Van breed. The kitten would bully her, giving the red light for the other cats to gang up on her. Squeaky couldn’t eat or use the litter box without being beat up by the other felines. In desperation, Squeaky dug a hole in the couch to do her business. That was the final straw for the human’s partner. A few days later, I received a call from this human, asking if I could take Squeaky in. The other option was to bring Squeaky to an animal shelter. Instinctively I knew if Squeaky was dropped off at a shelter, she was going to die. When Squeaky came to live with us, we were told she was six.
The vet guessed she was between six and eight in cat years.
Squeaky turned out to be not only extremely smart, but also affectionate. She was loyal, unless someone else had dinner scraps. During her ten years living with us, she became your TV buddy, a muse, a Joy Division fan (one time I played the Closer album. She curled around the speakers, closed her eyes in contentment, and purred as the music played. No lie.), a U.S. Presidental candidate, mouse exterminator, an art supply thief (she was also once accused of stealing my King Crimson CD. The CD was discovered in a pile of stashed drawing pens) and a member of The Church of The Subgenius. Someone outright offered to pay for Squeaky’s Subgenius membership. Upon enrollment, she was known as Rev. Squeaky Squeakums. Hail Squeaky!
Rev. Squeaky Squeakums, a member of The Church of The Subgenius.
Her final role was as the basis for my latest comic, The Temptation of Squeaky. At least she lived to see her likeness in print. Now she’s immortalized.
Pet grief is very real. Now that she’s gone, the apartment is unusually quiet. Gone is the constant nagging of food as she followed me around the place. Despite being fed an hour ago. As I walk into my bedroom, there’s no longer a whoosh sound of a cat jumping on the bed to receive constant adoration. Her favorite cardboard shoe box is empty. With Squeaky’s passing, there’s a sad void. Her feline roommate, Netzach Wondercat, aka Nettie has also been mum. Even the turtle MeeShee Gamera has been affected. With Squeaky gone, there’s been a void.
In her honor, I will continue doing the Squeaky comic. It’ll just have a different ending. Wrapping up this tribute post, I’ve included a sketch of Squeaky with her demon buddy Maximus walking off into the woods, perhaps the afterlife.
Squeaky Squeakums walking off with Magnus Maximus. R.I.P. Squeaky. Based on the comic book written and drawn by Michele Witchipoo, on WitchesBrewPress. June 2019.
Check back for future posts, including reviews of Cradle Con 2019 & IncrediCon 2019. Killing Joke live in concert. Also reports about It Came From The Radio podcast/The Grindhouse Radio interview. Next week we’ll return with the latest Psycho Bunny sketch of the week.
Sunday May 19th 2019, we took a quick bus ride over to the Jersey side. New Jersey that is. It was to check out the annual East Coast Comic Con over at the Meadowlands Exposition Center. I didn’t have my own table, but that was okay. It was nice to check out other established artists like Rick Parker, Howard Chaykin, Peter Bagge, Stephen Blickenstaff, Larry Hama, Russ Braun, Drew Friedman, Al Milgrom, George Perez, and many others. What sets East Coast Comic Con apart is that the emphasis is on the artists themselves. Without a doubt, there was also media guests, panels and cosplayers.
You knew you were on the right place when you saw Batman on line. Guess his Batmoblie was in the shop for repairs.
Batman in Port Authority. The Batmoblie must’ve been in the shop for repairs. Photo by Ben Herman. May 2019.
East Coast Comic Con is a three day event, but we could only check out Sunday. Which worked out fine. Plus I was personally still on that high from both the Jaz Coleman spoken word event, plus the Killing Joke concert earlier that week.
It should be noted that East Coast Comic Con was one of the last appearances for retiring comic book artist George Perez. Which means I totally missed most of the good panels. There was panels such as one for actress P.J. Soles (Rock n’ Roll High School, Halloween), and The Book of Weirdo. I did mange to catch the panels later Sunday afternoon. That we’ll get to later.
Peter Bagge at East Coast Comic Con, New Jersey. May 2019. Photo by Michele Witchipoo.
Comic book artist Al Milgrom
Comic book artist Al Milgrom
The first panel I attended that Sunday was about The Infinity Gauntlet comic book series. Infinity Gauntlet lead into other media franchises, such as video games and film. Most notably the current Avengers film series. The panel featured Jim Starlin, George Perez, Ron Lim and Joe Rubinstein.
The Infinity Gauntlet panel at East Coast Comic Con 2019. Jim Starlin, George Perez, Ron Lim and Joe Rubinstein. Photo by Ben Herman. May 2019.
Afterwards I stuck around for another panel. This one was pure nostalgia from my adolescence years. Titled Flash Gordon: Stars of An American Classic, it focused on the 1980 film adaptation rather than the original comic book series. The two stars from the film spoke at the panel: Sam Jones & Melody Anderson.
Flash Gordon: Stars of An American Classic panel at East Coast Comic Con 2019. Sam Jones and Melody Anderson.
Flash Gordon: Stars of An American Classic panel at East Coast Comic Con 2019. Sam Jones and Melody Anderson.
Flash Gordon: Stars of An American Classic panel at East Coast Comic Con 2019. Sam Jones and Melody Anderson.
Flash Gordon: Stars of An American Classic panel at East Coast Comic Con 2019. Sam Jones and Melody Anderson.
Flash Gordon: Stars of An American Classic panel at East Coast Comic Con 2019. Sam Jones and Melody Anderson.
This was followed by yet another panel titled Denis Kitchen: 50 Years of Kitchen Sink Press. Being an underground and alternative comic book fan, this was an avid interest of mine. On this panel was Denis Kitchen, John B. Cooke, and Mark Schultz. Here Dennis Kitchen discussed mainly the history of Underground Comics, and Kitchen Sink’s role. Kitchen Sink later published titles like Omaha The Cat Dancer. (You can also check out info about Omaha here
Denis Kitchen, John B. Cooke, and Mark Schultz speak at the Denis Kitchen panel during East Coast Comic Con 2019, New Jersey. Sunday, May 19th, 2019. Photo by Michele Witchipoo.
Quickly ushered in after the Denis Kitchen panel was the annual Cosplay contest, held only on Sundays. The cosplay contest was broken down into two categories. The kids contest started at 4:30 pm. Below are a few highlights.
Immediately following was the adult section of the cosplay contest.
The East Coast Comic Con cosplay contest stands out, due to the focus being on the craft. The judges asked various questions in regards to materials used, where parts of the costumes were retained, if they were made by hand, etc. For the dedicated cosplayer, a lot of time and work goes in.
Although I didn’t get to meet all the artists, or attend all the panels, East Coast Comic Con is one of the better conventions to check out. Until next year.
Michele Witchipoo (author of this blog and artist) with comic book artist Rick Parker. East Coast Comic Con, New Jersey. Sunday May 19th, 2019.
Brief announcement. I will have a table selling my comics and other items at Cradle Con 2019. It’s going to be a shared table with another cartoonist/comic creator Patrick Sinnott, who was recently at MoCCA 2019. The event is scheduled for June 1 & 2nd, in the Cradle of Aviation Museum and Educational Center. The venue is located in Long Island, NY.
You can check out the link to Cradle Con 2019 here. More details forthcoming.
Stay tuned for more announcements regarding tables, exhibits and events.
Some people gaze upon the night sky, wishing upon stars.
The misanthropic Psycho Bunny wishes for something else.
Introducing the Psycho Bunny sketch of the week for April 9th, 2019.
Some people wish upon stars. Psycho Bunny wished upon beers. Based on the comic written and drawn by Michele Witchipoo, April 2019. On WitchesBrewPress.
Back again with another Psycho Bunny sketch. He’s back at his usual place. His old, beat up chair, drinking cheap beer, being his misanthropic self.
Misanthropic Psycho Bunny in his usual spot. His old, beat up chair drinking cheap beer. Based on the comic written and drawn by Michele Witchipoo, on WitchesBrewPress. March 2019.
Just don’t sit there…check out these social media links:
In all, being at MICE Expo 2016 was good. It was also a relief that not only did I make my money back for the table and bus fare, there was a bit of a profit. So it’s definitely worth break out of one’s comfort zone, and to do comic cons outside of your hometown. Even if you’re barely awake in the a.m.
Comicbook/Zine artist and writer Michele Witchipoo at MICE Expo 2016. Photo taken early in the morning, Oct. 2016.
Some more photos from MICE Expo 2016:
Being in Cambridge was pretty nice as well.
Being at MICE, I had the rare occasion of being near Salem, MA for Halloween. Managed to squeeze in a few hours, jumping on the train. Wasn’t far of a train ride from Cambridge and Boston.
It’s very easy to walk around Salem once you navigate around the tourists. Surprisingly I got a very accurate tarot reading in one of those occult shops. The psychic was a kind gentleman. His advice was spot-on as 2017 later unfolded.
There was some annoyance when some fundamentalist Christians started preaching on a street corner. Shouting about the evils on Halloween. Right across the street from one of the witch stores. Nobody really paid them any mind.
Here’s some photos from Salem, Halloween day, Oct 31st 2016:
Soon it was time to head back to NYC. Left Salem right before the rush of the evening crowds started coming in. BTW, Beer Works in Salem is an awesome brewery.
I’ll end the MICE 2016 series with some comics and zines picked up during the weekend. There was tons of talented artists, writers, zine makers and comic creators. Unfortunately a few months after MICE, there was an abrupt apartment move (no thanks to a former corrupt, greedy landlord, but that’s another story.) Most of the merch brought at MICE was thrown into a box, which I still have to locate. Luckily I was able to retrieve these:
Dead-End Rob issue 2 by Luke Howard. Brought at MICE Expo 2016. deadendrob.comAlter Boy By Rogan of LB Lee. Brought at MICE Expo 2016. etsy.com/shop/MadComics or email: loonybrain@healthymultiplicity.comPaper Pencil Life issue 2. Diary comics by Summer Pierre. Brought at MICE Expo 2016. http://www.summerpierre.comMe & Doctor Dee.: A Jape. Script and art by E.J. Barnes on Drowned Town Press. Seen at MICE Expo 2016 as well as other comic cons. http://www.drownedtownpress.comTree Rats! or, The Crepuscular Hobbyhorse. A Farrago by E.J. Barnes. E.J. Available from Drowned Town Press. Seen at MICE Expo 2016 as well as other comic cons. http://www.drownedtownpress.comA Beautiful Young Nymph Going To Bed by Jonathan Swift. Illustrated by E.J. Barnes. Available on Drowned Town Press. Seen at MICE Expo 2016 as well as other comic cons. http://www.drownedtownpress.com
That concludes the belated MICE 2016 blog entries.
Me & Doctor Dee.: A Jape/Tree Rats! or, The Crepuscular Hobbyhorse. A Farrago/A Beautiful Young Nymph Going To Bed by Jonathan Swift, Illustrated by E.J. Barnes all available on DrownedTownPress: http://www.drownedtownpress.com/
This week celebrates Valentine’s Day. Psycho Bunny has no other valentines except for one. Introducing the Psycho Bunny sketch of the week for February 12, 2018.
The Psycho Bunny sketch of the week for Feb. 12th, 2018. Valentine’s Day edition. Based on the comic written and drawn by Michele Witchipoo on WitchesBrewPress.
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