Pennywise, Joker, and Birthday Child

Birthday Child with the Imaginary Uncles He Didn’t Know He Wanted at the Time

One of our kids just had a significant birthday, marking his transition into official teenhood.

The birthday elicited reminiscing about his receding youth. We spent some time looking at a disk of photos from kindergarten. (Though it was challenging- at this point, we only have one ancient computer in the house that has a disk drive)

For the birthday napkin- and to thwart facial recognition software-I thought I would draw him as a five year old. He is posed with two of his favorite characters from the present day...because violent and horror themed characters hanging around a small child is quite amusing to snarky teens. 

I’m pretty sure he was familiar with the Batman Animated version of the Joker as a five year old, but fortunately Pennywise was not present in any format. 

Sadly, the Nightwing t-shirt doesn’t fit anymore. 

Aliens Naruto Run Out of Area 51 on Monday

(They were just waiting for all the Area 51 raiders to go home)

This one is a little late, (or is it?) as the main event to ”Storm Area 51” was of course scheduled for Friday September 20th. 

“What event?” My ever-tolerant mom is asking as she reads this....(though there was a good bit of coverage in the New York Times.... So, perhaps I can’t use Grandma as a foil here.) 

At any rate, there was a fair amount of attention paid by our kids to the supposed raid on Area 51 last Friday. The huge online phenomenon manifested a good bit smaller in the real world. And sadly, we were not among the 400 or so people who actually went to the site...or the environs. 

But we were among the millions who were impressed by the guy who managed to get his Naruto run in the background behind a reporter from “Action 13 News”...and became a worldwide meme.

Naruto running: perhaps no more implausible or uncomfortable in the real world than the extraterrestrials in Nevada.

My son tells me that he can recognize all of the aliens on this napkin, so at least there’s that.

Miraculous Ladybug, Cat Noir, Spider Man and Cat Woman

Bendy Insects with Dark Felines:

Someone at our house might be watching “Miraculous,” but I am not authorized to reveal who that might be. I gather the show is quite popular...but somehow embarrassing to the in-house viewer.

We are talking about “Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir” a French anime style show (“Miraculous, les aventures de Ladybug et Chat Noir”) starring an adolescent Parisian girl named Marinette. Her secret identity is the superhero Ladybug. Her schoolgirl crush is Adrien, whose secret identity, unsurprisingly, is her superhero counterpart, Cat Noir...

Or, en francais: 

Chat Noir.

“Miraculous” definitely traffics in some friendly superhero story elements, Marinette and Adrien are simultaneously awkward young people who can’t be cool around cute members of the opposite sex....and powerful spandex clad heroes easily able to dominate evil adults.

Marinette seems to have some qualities  in common with Peter Parker.....And Adrien bears a startling resemblance to characters who are stereotypically female in the american superhero universe.

Like the cat ladies, he sports a skintight shiny black catsuit, ears, tail and pointy finger tips. And most disturbingly, he wears a large blingy gold bell around his neck.

I’m conjecturing that the French audience has a more elastic understanding of what is allowed in male superhero costumes and thematics.

Gender elasticity in superhero land is certainly a good thing.

But apparently, I need to work on my drawing of bendy people in spandex suits.

Spider-Man Noir and Gotham by Gaslight Batman

Brothers in Stylish Darkness:

Spider-Man Noir teams up with “Gotham by Gaslight”s Batman.

Our sons are fond of both of these “alternate universe” iterations of  these characters. Darkness, stylish outfits and significant violence...what’s not to like? 

Although they are supposedly separated by a few decades: Batman in “Gaslight” tracks Jack the Ripper in the late 1880’s London, and Spider-Man Noir swings in the 1930’s during the American Depression, they look like they could work together.

A crossover opportunity, perhaps?

Movie Popcorn

Holiday Weekend Movie Goers

We did finally make it to the other superhero movie over the fall break. At the beginning of every day over the long weekend, we would start by announcing that we would go see the DC movie that day, and then motivation would somehow prove to be insufficient. 

But today we finally made it to to the theater, and I finally have managed to photograph this napkin. 

Low expectations are often good when it comes to such things, however, so by the time we did see the movie, our younger son pronounced it not so bad after all. My expectations were perhaps not low enough for the movie or the napkin. 

But I heard that the movie theater popcorn was ok.

Justice League Members View the 2017 Eclipse

Be Sure to View the 2017 Eclipse Safely:

(Even if you are Batman)

(Unless, perhaps, your head is already on fire)

We are getting ready for the Great American (partial) Eclipse here in Brooklyn.

There's been a lot of discussion about how to view the eclipse in a safe manner. I am the proud owner of not one, but two, arc welding helmets, so we are pretty well outfitted. But the kids really wanted cool eclipse viewing glasses to be purchased expressly for the occasion. Not too much chance of that happening now at t minus one hour.

I am still thinking about a Fresh Direct box viewer though. Unfortunately, our latest delivery is not due until 3-5 pm today, so I will have to unpack our paper recycling pile.

The three superheroes Batman, Firestorm and Stargirl hail from the latest DC Cartoon Network show that my kids have been watching, "Justice League Action."  

Firestorm has a perpetual flame emanating from the top of his head so a eclipse box viewer will protect his vision, but not prevent all burning.

Child Constantine With Flaming Demon Lollipop

Underage Constantine with Appropriate Oral Gratification Object:

My younger son has been watching "Justice League Action" lately, including the episode "Trick or Threat" where Batman, Zatanna, Constantine, and Doctor Fate are turned into 10 year olds by Klarion the witch boy and then visit the House of Mystery.

Being ten himself, the idea of a similarly aged Constantine was pretty compelling for my son. (Halloween costume?) He was quick to note that the kid version of John has a sucker perpetually in his mouth rather than a cigarette. 

I guess the need for oral gratification starts early. 

I did upgrade Constantine's lollipop to a flaming devil head gummy, since the images for the live action tv show favor flames....and because that was more fun to draw.

The Red Hood and Deadpool

The Red Hood and Deadpool Point Some Fingers Nonviolently:

One cannot help but notice the similar appeal of these two red masked individuals. 

And their visual appeal is intensified when they are holding and pointing their guns. 

I was trying to find a less weaponized arrangement for the two that also explained why they are so close to one another....other than to fit on the napkin...

I thought perhaps the finger trap allowed for some gratifying finger pointing posing without the actual guns.

Maybe.

Unfortunately, it meant I had to draw both of their overly detailed gloves.

The Red Hood and Red Riding Hood's Wolf

This particular image of the Red Hood was a specific request from my son and is closely based on a drawing he found on Instagram. 

Normally, I would credit the artist, and post a link to the source, but my ten year old son can't remember where he got his screen shot from, and I haven't had any success finding it myself.  Perhaps we can turn it up eventually after camp is over and I am not trying to come up with two napkins every 24 hours....

I added the wolf, because wolves are always cool, and you know....the Red Hood thing. 

If John Constantine Were a Pug

Our younger son is still interested in the Marvel's Constantine character. He appreciates John's seedy, morally questionable nature...and his trench coat. 

We've read a couple comic series and watched the Keanu Reeves movie, but for some reason haven't dipped into the recent TV show yet.

I couldn't decide whether I should draw him in his comic, Keanu or Matt Ryan form.

The obvious solution was to draw him as a pug.

And on a side note, summer camp has started and both kids are taking a packed lunch. This means that theoretically I am on the hook for two napkins a night. We have some napkins left over from the proceeding school year, but they are proving to be strangely unsatisfying to the napkin recipients. So far I have kept up with the demand, despite the fact that I can no longer stay up late to do anything, much less draw on napkins.

But I have fallen far behind on the posting of the napkins.

And, as my sons can tell you, the quality of the output is really suffering.

John Constantine and Doctor Fate

John Constantine Warms up his Lunch:

(Presumably there's a cold pack in his Doctor Fate Helmet lunchbox)

We watched the DC animated movie "Justice League Dark" and now our younger son is very interested in the John Constantine character.  He has not seen the recent TV show, nor the previous Keanu Reeves movie, but I fear it will be hard to avoid both.

Doctor Fate is also cool at our house lately, probably courtesy of the impending release of Injustice 2. 

When I Google "Constantine and Doctor Fate" I get results that suggest some sort of appearance of Doctor Fate's helmet on the Constantine show.  I did not pursue the specifics.

Googling does not reveal the existence of a lunchbox in the shape of Doctor Fate's Helmet, however.

Surely this must be a temporary oversight. 

Batman and the other Men

 

For #BatmanDay2016 :

The Dark Knight surrounded by other aspiring men:
Clockwise from top right: Ratman, Fatman, Gnatman, Catman, Spratman & Flatman.

Here's a link to last year's Batman Day napkin... arguably more successful...

The Harry Canaries

Harry•Canary•Woodland-Fairy and Harry•Canary•Little-House-on-the-Prairie
They don't look like they are feeling lucky.
(PuppyMonkeyBaby drawing #16)

An explanation starting with what is probably the most obscure element: the canary on the right is DC Comics' Black Canary. She was one of my favorite characters back when the kids were watching "Young Justice" despite being clad in a strapless top and no pants, More than just a screamer,  she was smart and somehow able to defeat Super Boy in hand to hand combat. Based on a Google search yesterday, I gather that Black Canary is also a character in the current TV show "Arrow." I borrowed the black jacket from that show as the blue blazer she wore in "Young Justice" looked a bit too much like it belonged with the Laura Ingels Wilder style skirt on the bottom.

As for the Harrys: (Harries?)
For some reason that I cannot discover, my sons are almost phobic about the idea of seeing any of the Harry Potter movies. They also adamantly refused to listen to me read the first book to them. I've seen parts of several of the movies over the years on TV after the kids' bedtimes, but we remain mostly a Hogwarts-deprived household.  My younger son guessed that the Harry Potter head in this image was Velma from "Scooby Doo" which does not say a lot for my drawing. He told me that he could not recognize Mr. Potter because I had neglected to draw his forehead scar. Somehow, I don't think that was it.

Unsurprisingly, the kids have not seen "Dirty Harry," but thanks to the magic of YouTube and various memes, they do know who he is, more or less. When I asked my older son about Dirty Harry, he said, "Are you feeling lucky?"

The woodland fairy is a generic concoction. I considered making the legs Tinker Bell-like, but decided that would be too boring. I wanted to draw some leaves I guess.

My sons have never seen "Little House on the Prairie," nor read any of the Laura Ingels Wilder books. The books were among my favorites at some point in my childhood. I remember that I was very disappointed and lost interest in the series around the time the Laura character got married, but that was many volumes in. These books are among the many that I have not managed to share with my sons. I could not even get them to listen to the "Chronicles of Narnia," so it seems unlikely that they would sit still for a description of churning butter.

There was some protest on Instagram about a previous image in this series that mixed genders- Bambi and Blondie. Just for the record, most of these have been determined by the sound of the rhyme more than any specific commentary beyond visual juxtaposition.

Trump V Trump Complete

Really, the hair is no exaggeration:

Trump V Trump: Dawn of Injustice

Bombastic conflict and the joy of trying to punch oneself in the face.

Batman V Superman was as long and heavy as promised. But our expectations were low, and the kids were pretty pleased with the movie overall. 

Having drawn the battling boys as pugs, the next obvious substitution was Donald.

This one is not finished yet- (my younger son wanted to know why Batman is wearing a light suit)
There was limited time this afternoon as I had already spent 2 1/2 hours watching the movie.

Belated Easter: Bunny Mash-up

Dummy•Grundy•Easter Bunny 

bumps a hip with

Smokey•Sonny•Chocolate Bunny

Another drawing in the PuppyMonkeyBaby series.

To be specific: that's "dummy" as in ventriloquist, "Grundy" as in Solomon Grundy, Batman's oversized undead antagonist in the Arkham game and other instances, with the legs of an actual bunny...

...And Smokey the "Only you can prevent forest fires" Bear, with the body of Sonny Bono without Cher in his best 1973 blazer, atop a partially unwrapped foil covered chocolate rabbit.

If I have to explain it all, both my drawing and the references leave something to be desired. 

And The Grundy torso came out too green and Hulk-like.

Needless to say, the kids were not particularly impressed.

Charlie•Harley•Jacob Marley high fives Snoopy•Scooby•Sleeping Beauty

Just a boy and his dog:

(PuppyMonkeyBaby drawing #10)

Peanuts meets Harley Quinn from DC's "Batman Animated" and the ghost of Ebenezer Scrooge's partner from "A Christmas Carol"
...and Scooby Doo and Disney's Princess Aurora.
 
I can't really explain this.
You can see the rest of the series and read an attempt at an explanation at this link.
But it probably won't help much

Batman V Superman Pug Cosplay

The kids are of course looking forward to "The Dawn of Justice" because, you know, Batman is going to fight Superman WHILE WEARING POWER ARMOR.

My husband and I agreed that we could recall very little of the preceding Superman movie, although we were both pretty sure that we had taken the kids to see it.

The appearance of Wonder Woman seems like a potentially pleasant diversion... or a disaster, I suppose.

But Pugs! Always good!
Pugs in power armor? Even better.

As you can see, I did not quite get the pose right.  My younger son said, "What is he doing with that paw?" And the isolated Pug muzzle in the power suit makes the dog look more like a cat... Should have drawn Wonder Woman.... or not

Belated Batman Day

The Dark Knight used to be a more important guy at our house. His stock has fallen quite a bit since the days when there were bitter fights over who got to wear the Batman costume. Neither boy was much impressed to hear that yesterday had been declared Batman Day. (By DC, I assume)

When asked what sort of napkin would be appropriate for the occasion, they sarcastically told me I should draw Fat Batman and Midget Batman. I thought maybe a bit less political incorrectness would be preferable, and drew Lazy Batman and Baby Batman instead.

The Bat Guys are parked on our beaten-down couch in front of the TV, perhaps embodying sloth and immaturity in the Bat Universe....or maybe just in our house this weekend.

(After this napkin, I noticed how many times our rapidly decomposing Costco couch had made an appearance, so I added a "couch" label so you can see how much trouble I have had drawing this piece of furniture over the last three years...here's the link.)

Superman Birthday Cake

While I might qualify as a professional drawer-on-napkins at this point. (if there could ever possibly be such a thing) I am definitely an amateur when it comes to frosting cakes. 

Our  kids' aunt requested a frosted Superman cake for her husband's recent notable birthday. This seemed only fair and symmetrical as I had squirted a lot of frosting on a Wonder Woman cake for her notable birthday a couple of years ago. 

Just in case it is not clear: these cakes are supposed to be portraits of these individuals dressed as the characters, not just inaccurate portrayals of superheroes. My sons were not terribly impressed, and told me that I made their uncle look more like Stan Lee than Superman. And they agreed that their aunt's cake had been more attractive.  (For the record, that cake was photographed under more flattering light conditions..... but, yes, it was a better looking cake. Perhaps that is for the best.)

Much to our younger son's distress, we had to leave the birthday party before the cake was served, so we did not get to see Uncle Myles/Clark/Superman lit up in a humorously politically incorrect fashion with a single candle cigarette-style in his mouth.  More apocalyptically, from an 8 year old's perspective, we did not get to eat any cake.

I'm am not proud to say that had I reserved a extra bowl of plain frosting at home just for this sort of disaster.