BUY FOUNTAIN'S PEN PRODUCTS FOR THE HOLIDAYS! C'MON! DO IT!

There's really only one way to show the special people in your life how much you care: BUY THEM LOTS OF STUFF FROM FOUNTAIN'S PEN PRODUCTIONS!

T-SHIRTS! HATS! UNDERWEAR! ALL ADORNED WITH MY FANCY ARTWORK!


John Fountain Art Prints for sale!


BUY BIRTHDAY WISHES AT AMAZON.COM

IN DEFENSE OF OPTIMISM

I think if you took a poll among the people in my life that know me fairly well and asked them to pick one word to describe me, the word 'cynical' would undoubtedly pop up a lot (but nowhere nearly as often as 'insufferable').
This is, of course, a vibe I admittedly give off. I love to bitch, gripe and rant... having a shaved head, sinister eyebrows and a wardrobe consisting almost entirely of black stuff doesn't help.

(if I may digress for a moment - I'd like to set something straight about the black clothes once and for all: I adopted this 'style' - or lack thereof - in college after I heard that Einstien used to have seven identical suits that he wore so he'd never have to waste any effort on wondering what he was gonna wear. Einstein, of course, was brilliant... I, of course, am a dolt... but I'm smart enough to realize that having that little extra space in my brain to devote to other things like maintaining balance and controlling basic motor function is EXTREMELY useful. Suffice it to say, I've NEVER been 'introverted' or 'sullen' or 'tortured.' Nor am I 'goth'. I got nothing against goths - but I just don't have the willpower to commit to that lifestyle. Nor am I 'protesting' anything and I most CERTAINLY am not trying to look 'cool.' I'm not 'anti-fashion' but I'm obviously no slave to trends, either. I try to make myself look presentable and, at least, slightly more 'together' than the obese guy at the 7-11 wearing running shorts and a "Molly Hatchet" tank-top. My ONE fashion 'vanity' are my hats. I've honestly liked hats since infancy. Ask my parents. I don't know why exactly - I just do and, clearly, it's not gonna change. My point is, I try to maintain a healthy balance of caring about my appearance enough to not disgust the general public without being vain. Aren't you grateful to me for clearing that up?)

But, back to cynicism... I confess that a good portion of my life was spent wallowing in miserable cynicism - convinced that the world was doomed and everything sucks.

However, I have come to realize that not EVERYTHING sucks - and as far as I'm concerned, that makes me an optimist.

Maybe it's because I've found the love of my life and actually conned her into being my bride, maybe it's spiritual growth, maybe it's having puppies at home, maybe it's all of the above - but happiness IS possible in this life. It's not always guaranteed - it's like anything else... ya gotta find it yourself and work hard to keep it - but it's possible.

I think the thing that generally screws people up is that the things that give them joy are far too complex or lofty. I mean - do the math: if the thing that you want most in life is to be rich and famous (and you weren't born into either) then you basically have a 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000 chance. Now, you can pursue fame and fortune and maybe you'll get lucky (it DOES happen) but if your entire happiness hinges on it I think you're out of your friggin' mind.

Besides - look at all of the rich/famous people out there right now who are obviously the most miserable wretches on the planet.

I'm not saying people shouldn't have lofty goals or "reach for the stars" - but don't let your happiness hinge on something that may very well be forever out of your grasp.
For instance, if you enjoy singing and want to make it a career, then by all means go for it... but pursue it because you LOVE TO SING and regardless of whether or not you can make it a career, enjoy singing for yourself.

I think that far too often people are afraid to express themselves creatively because "art" has become so commercialized and slick that they forget that the arts exist because the compulsion towards creativity is something we ALL share. Not everything has to be for the purpose of selling albums or getting ratings or selling tickets.

What made me think of this was seeing the neighbor kids having a birthday party recently. They were literally dancing in the streets. They were doing "moves" to some incredibly goofy bubblegum pop music - and bravo to them.

Peasants used to sing, dance, cavort and frolic just to let off steam and celebrate a day without getting the plague. We should get back to that mentality of celebrating what we have and not constantly obsessing over getting more.

Let the "hipper-than-thou" elite have their 'coolness'... I'd rather be happy than cool (yeah, yeah... I hear you: "Oh don't worry, John... you have NO danger of being cool").

I'm not saying I'm gonna start frolicking through the streets handing out sunflowers and singing 'Kumbaya' all the time, but the fact is, being perpetually negative is the easy way out. Finding something positive to focus on when you're surrounded by awful shit takes a helluva lot more strength.

Now pardon me while I go fetch the new 'Spice Girls' CD...

HAPPY HORROR-WEEN

Yeah - I know... it's the same illustration I put up last year. But I colored it and slapped some shitty photoshop effects on it! So there. I'm awesome.
It's been an interesting week... Monday - everyone's favorite day of the week - I got outta bed (begrudgingly), got ready for work and walked out to my car only to discover that the driver's side window had been smashed in. Shattered. At first I thought a tree branch had flown through it (the winds were seriously crazy that night) - but upon closer examination it became apparent that someone had broken in and rifled through my stuff.
What's particularly frustrating about this little turn of events is that this same car got broken into (almost exactly) a year ago!
Now, the first robbers were kind enough to jimmie the lock, take a bunch of stuff, and leave the car itself basically unscathed... but they also made off with my precious Sirius Satellite Radio as well as a bunch of stuff I had in my trunk.
Monday's robbers, however, were apparently less ambitious or looking for something very specific that they didn't find 'cause they, too, rifled through my stuff but didn't take anything (what? My John Denver CDs aren't GOOD enough for you?!).
I suddenly feel shitty complaining about this 'cause right now all of Southern California is on fire and people are losing their homes... so let's just say that while it was a bummer to have a smashed-in window, I'm grateful that my home is nowhere near the fires.
Last Saturday was awesome 'cause I cashed in on my birthday present: Leigh got us tickets to see "Weird Al" Yankovic in concert.
Suffice it to say, we had a grand ole' time.
Anyway - Halloween is coming up and I can't wait. Leigh and I will be handing out candy for the first time from our house.
I'm also extremely excited about our costumes this year... I won't give it away, but it's very "high-concept"...
Stay tuned for details/photos...

GLORY!

You will all be relived to know that I finally got 'HALO 3' working (I can practically hear you breathing a sigh of relief).
Consequently, I have no time to come up with a clever blog... so just go back to Google-searching people you hated from Junior High School or e-mailing links to YouTube Videos of scenes from 'The Family Guy.'
After I finish the game I'll be back to tell you how to live your lives. Until then, just deal - okay?

RANDOM BABBLING!!!

It just seems like it's been a million years since I wrote anything, so I figure I should just blurt out some stuff...

First of all, September can NOT be over quick enough as far as I'm concerned. This month was annoying. Not horrible - just filled with annoyances.
It seems as though Leigh and I were attending no less than thirty-eight birthday parties a week. What's the deal? How come so many people were born in September?! (yeah, I know... lots of people 'celebrating' on New Year's produces many babies... it's still annoying)

So - HALO 3 came out the other day... I was all prepared... had it on reserve at Target... paid for... locked in... all set. I had just finished BIOSHOCK (quite possibly the most cerebral video game ever... viva la Ayn Rand!) so my appetite was perfectly whet to settle in with the sequel to my favorite game. Oh - and did I happen to mention that I now have a big-screen HD television? It was going to be erotic.

So I get home - put the fucker in... and my XBOX 360 decides to shit all over me and konk out. Oh - not COMPLETELY, mind you... THAT would have been far too simple. It plays OTHER games just fine, and it plays DVDs just fine... IT JUST WON'T FUCKING LOAD HALO 3 FOR SOME GODFORSAKEN REASON!!!!

Yeah yeah yeah, I returned the game figuring it was defective... this, too, would have been FAR too easy. I exchanged the four - yes - FOUR TIMES and still no go.

The only moderately good news is that the 'Box is under warranty - but that means I have to send it in and WAIT for them to repair/replace it... which will, undoubtedly, take a minimum of 4 weeks.

Meanwhile, everyone else in the world is playing HALO 3. I hate everyone else in the world. Go to hell, all of you.

Anyway - as you can tell, this has me extremely grumpy.

I was gonna bitch about other stuff (it's still impossible for me to go to the movies without wanting to murder people) but I gotta get back to work.

Since sex sells, here is a completely random drawing of a girl in a red dress.

THE TELEPHONE SCARES ME

I've come to realize lately just how desperately I hate telephones.

This is odd, because I love to talk. I love chatting. I love conversation. But phones terrify me. I hate calling people, I hate getting calls from people, I hate getting voicemail messages, I hate leaving voicemail messages (although those are slightly less awful because if I'm leaving a voicemail, it means I've fulfilled MY end of the bargain by making the call, and now all of the pressure has been passed to another unfortunate soul).

Every time the phone rings, I'm convinced it's someone calling with awful news.

Every time I call anyone and they actually answer, I'm always certain that I've called at the absolutely most abominably inconvenient time and now they hate me.

The weird thing is, I'm not one of those people who is afraid to fly on planes or get on a boat... hell, I've jumped out of an airplane... I've navigated a raft down whitewater rapids! I also don't consider myself "panicky" by nature... I've found myself in "emergency" situations before where I've remained calm and dealt with the problem without losing my head. Oh, I can be high strung depending on the circumstances, but I like to think I've gotten progressively more easy-going over the years. I'm also not one of those people who is intimidated by speaking with other people... I'm a GREAT speaker! I used to perform improv comedy in Detroit... I give lectures at schools... I can spontaneously get up in front of a crowd and make a speech and be perfectly poised and engaging...

But lord help me if the phone rings and I'm taking a nap... when I'm asleep and I hear that "alarm" go off, I get a jolt in my chest that feels like a mini-heart attack and my brain instantly assumes that the minute I pick up the receiver I'm going to hear a voice relay some message of unspeakable horrors.

What's embarassing about this is that I pride myself on being extremely rational and this phobia of mine is about as far from rational as you can get.

I suppose I could try and trace back to when I first started feeling this way about phones, but - really - what does that actually accomplish? The fact is, it's not the kind of phobia that has kept me from enjoying life or accomplishing things... I'm not SO scared of phones that I refuse to USE them... I use them constantly... it's just a bit of a struggle.

I guess the best way of labelling it (if I must) would be to call it a "nagging anxiety." It's more annoying than harmful.

Anyway... I dunno what my point is. I just felt the desire to get it off my chest. You have my blessing to make fun of me for this to your heart's content as I am fully aware of how stupid it is.

Now I gotta go return some calls...

APPARENTLY I'M SUPERMAN

Ordinarily I hate these cutesy litttle online quizzes, but I couldn't resist this one 'cause it's superheroes and I'm a big dweeb.

You basically just answer a lot of really obviously leading questions (i.e. "Do you like redheads?") and it tells you which superheroes you are most akin to.

To be honest, I'm not surprised that I came out 90% Superman 'cause I'm such a sucker for outdated concepts like "truth, justice and the American way" (similarly, I'm certain that if this were a Star Wars quiz I'd come out as Luke as opposed to Han Solo).

I'm somewhat taken aback by the fact that I'm 25% Catwoman and Wonder Woman... I'm not sure how I should feel about that...

The most pleasant surprise, though, was that apparently I'm 85% Spider-Man... so I am most alike my two favorite superheroes! Excelsior!

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 90% Spider-Man 85% Iron Man 60% Green Lantern 55% Robin 55% Supergirl 50% Batman 35% Hulk 35% Catwoman 25% Wonder Woman 25% The Flash 20%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

'CLEAN IS HAPPY'

If ever there were a time to stop by Leigh's Blog it is NOW.
Just do it. Trust me.

HOT MEXICAN LOVE 2007 IS HERE!

I know it's been torture since the last edition of HOT MEXICAN LOVE COMICS came out in which Leigh and I did our first comic-strip collaboration ("Don't Drink the Water: The Ballad of Jerry Montezuma") - but rest easy, true believers, for your agonizing wait is OVER - HOT MEXICAN LOVE COMICS 2007 is HERE and ready to exchange your cold-hard-cash for a big whopping book full of laughs, courtesy of animation's most under-rated talent!
This go-round Leigh spins another agua-themed yarn in rhyme called "Something in the Water" with illustrations by yours truly.
Here's a tease:

If you can't make it to the Comic-Con, be sure to stop by HERE and order it straight from the source!
Ariba!

I WAS RIGHT THE FIRST TIME - THE TRANSFORMERS LIVE-ACTION MOVIE IS HORRIBLE

Unfortunately I don't have time to go into all of the reasons that the new 'Transformers' movie is just painfully awful - but trust me on this: it IS painfully awful.
You may recall a few months ago I predicted that it would probably suck
I made my assumption after reading an interview with the film's director and producers in which they rambled on and on about how important the human characters are to the story blah blah blah blah.
But then the trailers started looking cooler and cooler, so I changed my mind
Alas, however, I was sadly right the first time.
Here are some impressions I got after watching this movie:
- Michael Bay hates 'Transformers'. Clearly, this was a project he took on because he's directed so many flops in a row... but make no mistake: he HATES all of the things that make 'Transformers' entertaining.
He's jammed this movie with about four thousand human characters that eat up so much screen that there seemed to be no time to focus on the characters we actually wanted to see... namely, THE FRIGGIN' TRANSFORMING ROBOTS THAT THE MOVIE IS NAMED AFTER! Bay spends insane amounts of screen time exploring the inner motivations of the most peripheral human characters and none whatsoever on the robot characters (you know - those pesky robot characters that have kept this franchise popular for over two decades).
- Michael Bay hates voice actors: Get this... at the beginning of the movie, one of the main human characters ("Sam"... who, in the original cartoon was named "Spike" - one of Bay's inexplicably lateral changes) goes to a used car lot... standing in front of the lot is a guy in a filthy clown suit holding one of those "BIG SALE" signs... this clown has one line and is on-screen for about 3 seconds and yet, in the end credits, the guy playing this clown got billing FAR ABOVE Peter Cullen - THE VOICE OF OPTIMUS PRIME!
- Michael Bay can't tell a story: If it weren't for expositional narration, Bay would clearly be up a creek without a paddle. Characters are constantly TELLING us what is happening, what's going to happen and what has happened in the past. Obviously, Bay thought it would be too much work to actually SHOW us stuff, so he has his beloved actors jabber on and on to give us the information we need.
Optimus Prime narrates "Our world was ravaged by war"... hm... gee... an antire planet of robots at war? That would be cool to see! Oh, but that would cost money - and lord knows we need that money to pay for Bernie Mac's cameo.
Minor plotpoints are spoon-fed to the audience with excruciating detail while major narrative devices are breezed over without the slightest bit of explanation ("If all else fails, put the cube in my chest, and that will fix everything"... um... okay, but WHY?! What does that DO? Help me, Michael Bay!).
Look, I could go on and on. The bottom line is that the movie was terrible, Michael Bay has cemented his reputation as a hack and I paid $14 to let these idiots ravage one of my favorite childhood mythologies.
Dreamworks should have gotten some up-and-coming director to helm this picture (ala Sam Raimi or Peter Jackson), but instead they threw a boatload of cash into a big pile and let Michael Bay burn it to the ground.
Any one episode of the original TV cartoon is a million times better than this movie - so don't bother.
Dare... Dare to believe.

THE BUNNY FILM

When I was in college, I had a roommate named Vinnie... he was one of those guys who loved movies, and loved making backyard films. Sure, lots of people do stuff like that, but Vinnie did a film with his brother Andy that - as far as I'm concerned - is one of those rare gems in which art, entertainment, comedy and tragey all merge into something truly wonderful.
It was known, simply, as "The Bunny Film" - and it is my immense pleasure to showcase it here:

Andy, you are not forgotten.

THERE'S NO SHAME IN SHAME

Look, I kinda resigned a while ago that I wasn't gonna use my blog for socio-political rants any more (Leigh does it much better than I), but with a lot of the things that are happening in America today, I think it's high time we revive a handy little emotional device that used to help keep the country a little more orderly: SHAME.
What got me thinking about this was hearing a news story about a man who is suing his dry cleaner for $65,000,000.00 because they lost his pants (whether this is 100% true or not is moot... we all know that these types of lawsuits happen all the time, so just stay with me here). Isn't this jagoff ashamed of himself for clogging up the judicial system with this nonsense? And shouldn't the judge be a LOT more pissed off that he's spending his time on something this douche-y? Don't some of these lawyers ever think to themselves "Y'know, to take this case would be kinda shameful"?
(on a side-note, Leigh and I were watching 'Fast Times at Ridgemont Hight' the other night, and it made me wish that every judge in America was just like Mr. Hand - but I digress)
Whenever Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan or any of these other celeb-u-tards get wasted and crash their cars into telephone poles, they always release these written-by-professional-spin-doctor statements that say things like "I have learned a lot and I thank my fans for their support." How about saying something like "I was WRONG and I am ASHAMED of my behavior and I WILL take whatever steps necessary to repair whatever damage I've done." You just never get that sense of REMORSE from them. They all need a really solid, healthy dose of shame.
I think our culture has convinced itself that while we may make mistakes, we're under no obligation to feel ashamed of them.
I'm not saying that we should spend the rest of our lives punishing ourselves for our transgressions, but shame is a valuable tool that - if properly used - prevents us from MAKING THE SAME BONEHEADED MISTAKES AGAIN.
Look, I'm as guilty of this as anybody... but as I get older I realize that the resistence to admitting a wrongdoing is really gutless. It takes a LOT more strength to suck it in and say "Ya know, I screwed up... and I'm ashamed of it, and I'm sorry for it" than it does to dodge responsibility and feign righteousness.
I've done lots of things that I'm ashamed of in my life... and, when I'm lucky, the sting of shame prevents me from repeating them or doing equally dumb shit. "Shame" is one of your brain's ways of keeping you from being a total dick.
Take pride in your shame... it's there to help.

FOR SALE: T-SHIRTS! HATS! UNDERWEAR!

That's right... I'm going all out and becoming a full-fledged WHORE! SO GO HERE NOW AND BUY STUFF:

Come visit my store on CafePress!

First amazing item for sale: DORKWEAR!

The gals will flock to you, you sexy beast, when you attend your local comic book, sci-fi or phantasy convention adorned in a classy-as-hell hoodie, sweatshirt, t-shirt, ballcap or even boxer shorts (wrrooooOOWRRRrr!)!!!
And, ladies... what better way to send a loud-and-clear message about what you're looking for in a REAL MAN?! Yes, you too can have this little gem of an image on a pair of panties printed just for you!
Need something to carry those bagged-and-boarded back issues of 'GREEN LANTERN'? NO PROBLEM! We got your back, jackson! You can also get the 'BIG DORK' on a tote bag! Oh RAPTURE!

More items to come from Fountains' Pen Productions! Check back often! Buy stuff constantly!

LET'S TALK ABOUT CARTOONS!

Actually, let's not... it seems as though I get at least two e-mails a day showing me some web site or another where people are screaming at each other about cartoons. I mean, I love cartoons too, but... sheesh...
The second most common - yet absolutely topmost baffling - e-mail I get is from folks who want to ask me "How do I get my own cartoon idea picked up?"
Now, please don't get me wrong... I'm flattered that folks would think to ask me this, and I'm grateful to all who grace my humble little blog with their presence (truly, honestly)... but the fact remains: I don't have a show of my own... so how would I know? Most of my career has been spent working on OTHER peoples' shows (and bless their hearts for letting me).
I've had two of my ideas "optioned" before (that is, a studio buys the POSSIBILITY of making the show) but the chasm betwixt getting something optioned and getting it on the air is vast and fraught with many trials.
A lot of times, it's that last little PUSH at the end of the journey that is the most difficult, and I've yet to make it past that point. Fortunately, the process of developing a show is, on a creative level anyway, pretty fun... so while it can be daunting and exhausting, it gives you an excuse to write and draw stuff that you wouldn't have otherwise.
The scant bit of "wisdom" I can pass on with regard to pitching shows is:
1) If you won't be able to say "Well, I had fun trying" when your idea gets passed on, then don't do it.
2) Even if you win the "option-lottery", don't go around telling everyone you've got your own show until it's well into its third season.
3) Have more than one idea. If you can't come up with more than one idea, how do you expect to make several seasons of a TV show?
4) Don't fall into the trap of self-pity if your pitch gets rejected. Your only "enemy" is the same enemy that everyone involved with pop-culture must face: the fickle mood of the general public. You think Bobby McFerrin doesn't wish his music was still popular? You think his lack of chart-topping hits over the past couple of decades is due to his age or a corporate plot to keep his style of music off the radio? No... the public dictated that it was finished with him, and that was that. So when your idea gets rejected, it's not because anybody's out to "get" you, it's because the studio doesn't think it will hit. End of story. Chin up, move on and try again.
Finally, but most importantly...
5) Enjoy life. If the alpha and omega of your happiness hinges on your ability to get a cartoon, you're missing out on a lot of great stuff in life. Now go outside and look at some stars (or trees or whatever) until you get things back into perspective.

THE RETURN OF LEIGH'S BLOG!

For months now folks have been pestering me about what happened to Leigh's blog (what? my constant ranting about 'Transformers' isn't GOOD enough for you?!), so I am happy to announce that she has returned to the world of online commentary.
If you've never visited it before, do so and check out the past columns as well as the new ones. They're a fun read and, often, strangely cathartic in their vehemence. Click on the link at the left and, by all means, Enjoy!
http://leighhope.blogspot.com/

OKAY, I TAKE IT BACK!!!

Look, I REALLY don't have time for the 'blogosphere' right now (I hate that term, but what else am I gonna call it?)... I owe about a million people e-mails, I'm so far behind on everything it's idiotic, but I have to take a moment to say this...
THE TRANSFORMERS MOVIE LOOKS LIKE IT'S GONNA BE REALLY F'ING COOL!!!!
I know, I know, I'm a complete dork, but lordie help me but I love robots. Let alone great big fighting robots who transform into vehicles!
Anyway, I felt the need to say this since I wrote a really snotty blog several months ago about how little faith I had in the movie, but every preview that comes out looks cooler and cooler.
I don't have time to do one of my lame sketches or anything, so here's a photo from the Transformers movie website of 'Jazz' - one of my favorite transformers.

MY FIRST 'STAR WARS' DRAWING

...a request from the last post by my friend Vinnie:
"I'd love to see you post the drawing of R2D2 you did as a child and once showed me and Jen."
...so here it is!

I did this drawing in my kindergarten class after having seen (and completely freaked out for) STAR WARS the night before.
R2D2 was, instantly, my favorite character of the movies and still is to this day.
Unfortunately this scan isn't from the original (I'm not positive if the original exists any more) but this is a (get this) DITTO my teacher did of the drawing. I'm told that after I drew the original, a bunch of kids in class were asking me to make one for them - so out of pity for my little fingers, my kindergarten teacher mercifully ran off a bunch of dittos so that everyone in class could have one.
This same teacher got me a scholarship at the Kalamazoo Art Center that year... ironically, her husband taught one of my art classes when I went to college. Weird.
Anyway, this one's for you, Vince... enjoy!

CRANIUM ANECDOTE

LEFT: R2D2 by Leigh Hope Fountain RIGHT: Tie Fighter by John Fountain

A couple of weekends ago, Leigh and I played 'Cranium' with some friends... one of the little mini-games within the game called 'Quickdraw' requires both teams to do a sketch (with their EYES CLOSED) based on a word given to them on a card... basically, it's like charades but it's done with drawings.
Anyway, Leigh and I were pitted against each other and the word on our card was "STAR WARS". Go figure.
Everyone playing the game was/is a huge Star Wars fan, and - despite what she will tell you - Leigh is also very good at drawing... nonetheless, my teammate and I were both storyboard artists and had spent countless hours of our youth drawing Star Wars stuff over and over and over and over and over again... and, for whatever reason, everyone I know who grew up drawing Star Wars stuff always recalls the Tie Fighter as being one of the most memorable. Actually, the reasons seem very simple in retrospect: It was easy to draw. Suffice it to say, my teammate and I won that round (much to the surprise of Leigh and her teammate). The funny thing is, when you look at both drawings, Leigh's is inarguably better than my peice of shit. Mine just happened to get the message across faster. The Tie Fighter's basic shape is so iconic, unique and simple that it instantly says "STAR WARS!" Sure, R2D2 has a simple shape as well, but he could easily look like a trash can or stick of deodorant or something... it isn't until you depict all of the little buttons and panels on him that he begins to look unique whereas the only thing that resembles a Tie Fighter is a Tie Fighter.
Anyway, I dunno what my point is... but Leigh's R2D2 drawing is now one of my favorite drawings in the universe. I fully intend to have it framed.

NEW COMICS BLOG!

Hey, you nutty funsters...
Before I get back to the business of waxing nostalgiac, I want to point out that I've started yet ANOTHER blog, specifically for posting random comics I've done.
http://fountainspencomics.blogspot.com/
This site (linked on the sidebar over yonder) will be my dumping ground for all kinds of comics, including stuff I did in college alongside current stuff. It's a gumbo of comic goodness!!!
Check it out.
Here's a sample:

STILL MORE SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION

I dunno what prompted this sudden surge of attention, but anyway - but since FREDERATOR has been airing 'The Tantrum' this week, the blog site for the Fred empire is currently running three (yes THREE) interviews with me. One about 'Teenage Robot', one about 'The Tantrum' and one about my career in general.
Two of the features were written by my blog-buddy Jeaux "The Freakishly Talented Artist" in my links.

Anyway, check them out if you feel so inclined:

http://newtoons.frederator.com/post/3678

http://newtoons.frederator.com/post/3674

http://newtoons.frederator.com/post/2717

In the interest of giving you a taste, one of the common questions I get asked a lot is "Who are your influences?" - so here's a snippet from one of the interviews asking this question:

Ah, my influences... I could thank them and damn them in the same breath.
One of the things that has been both a blessing and a curse in my career is that my influences are all over the map, so-to-speak. I believe that is in large part responsible for the fact that I've never focused on one style of drawing or storytelling and consequently, my work has been called 'undisciplined'.
Anyhow, here's a partial list:
Film: George Lucas- perhaps the greatest overall artistic influence in
my life.
Television: Jim Henson- 'Sesame Street' and 'The Muppet Show'.
Music: Peter Gabriel- a genius that will likely never receive nearly
enough credit for his brilliant innovations in music and multimedia.
Comics: Kyle Baker, Evan Dorkin, Robert Crumb and many others.
Comic Strips: Charles Schulz, Berke Breathed, George Herriman, Bill Griffith, Bill Watterson, Gary Larson, Patrick McDonnell and many others.
Painting: Picasso, Magritte, Dali, Munch and many others.
Literature: J.R.R. Tolkien, Moliere, Douglas Adams, Greek Mythology, the Bible and virtually any books pertaining to philosophy.
Animation: Obviously, Walt Disney, Chuck Jones, Tex Avery and all of the masters. Nick Park and Aardman... Over the course of the past 20 years, I've been increasingly influenced by anime - specifically the works of Miyazaki and anything from Gainax.
Some of the most important influences in my animation career however have been people that I've worked with and call my friends - Shawn Murray, Chris Graham, Ira Sherak, Louie del Carmen, Rudi Berden, Ian Graham, Rob Goodin and many others. If these guys hadn't let me peek over their shoulders while they worked, I'd have drowned in animation ignorance LONG ago.

Thanks once again to Fred and his vast network of hench-people for the recognition.
Be sure to visit Jeaux's site and support his work.
Have a nice day.

SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION: THE TANTRUM

We interrupt our tale of nostalgia to bring you some shameless self-promotion in the form of THE TANTRUM...
For those of you who are unaware, Fred Seibert is one of the biggest producers in the animation business (he also co-founded a little basic cable station called Mtv).
One of his more recent ventures into world conquest are his cartoon podcasts and his 'Channel Frederator' site... to learn more, go here:

http://www.channelfrederator.com

An eternity ago when I first started working at Nickelodeon, 'Oh Yeah! Cartoons' was going into its 3rd (and final season). 'OY!C' was, essentially, the pitri dish in which many of Nickelodeon's new series were spawned (including The Fairly Oddparents, Chalk Zone and My Life as a Teenage Robot - all of which I have directed and/or storyboarded at some point or another).
I had pitched about a half a dozen ideas for 'OY!C' and they were all rejected (with good reason). But after lots of trial and error, I came up with this little gem of a kid superhero character (long before the current onslaught of kid superhero characters) and, much to my overwhelming joy, it was approved (unlike a lot of Nickelodeon pilots, what was nice about 'OY!C' was that it was basically Fred's baby and he made the picks personally - eliminating the usual red-tape that new cartoons have to go through to get picked up... plus, the shorts were created specifically to air on the show whereas many cartoon pilots never see the light of day).
Fast forward to today, and Fred is running a bunch of the shorts from 'OY!C' on his podcast, and this week's feature is my little 7-minute story, 'The Tantrum.'
This was the first cartoon I'd ever created, produced, designed, written, directed, storyboarded and - yes - voiced (I'm the voice of The Tantrum himself). Consequently, I sort of consider this my 'student film' insomuch as I am proud of it for what it is, but I've learned a lot since then.

Anyway, enjoy my humble little cartoon.



By the way, it's interesting to note that Nickelodeon wound up buying the rights to this idea from me and tested it for a series pickup. Obviously it never got a series deal, but I was pretty stoked that my first film actually recieved such serious consideration.

A DECADE IN CALIFORNIA - PART 1: Getting Here In One Piece

(I did this drawing the day I arrived in California for the first time - 10 years ago this month)


Boy, I hope you ingrates appreciate this (but then, I suppose if you're ingrates, there's no chance that you'll appreciate it)... I could be playing 'God of War 2' right now, but instead I'm taking this EXTREMELY rare moment of free time to actually DO something with my blog (besides use it as a dumping ground for doodles, that is).
As of this month, it's been ten whole years since I moved from Michigan to California, and I thought it would be interesting (for me, that is... it's going to be a snooze-fest for you) to dig up some of my journals and sketchbooks from that time and wallow in nostalgia for the events that surrounded my life at the time.

At the risk of this little retrospective taking forever and a day, I'll spare you the gory details of what prompted me to move out here, but here are some of the circumstances I was dealing with:
- lost my job in Ann Arbor... had searched all over Michigan for another one in ANY kind of art field with no success
- had nearly $80,000 in debt with student loans and other various shady deals
- had never driven outside of Michigan by myself before and never really wanted to
- knew only TWO people in the entire state of California
- was scared shitless

For those of you who don't know me very well, allow me to make one aspect of my personality abundantly clear: I DO NOT LIKE ADVENTURE!
I had always pictured myself living in Michigan forever while working at little commercial production studios until I 'made it' as a syndicated cartoonist or underground comic book artist (HA!). I had absolutely NO desire to leave the confines of my limited little world.
And yet, when the well of animation work in Michigan ran dry, I was faced with the notion of either becoming one of those dudes who lives with his parents his whole life, or taking a real risk for the first time in my sheltered midwestern life and actually leaving the proverbial nest.

I knew virtually nothing about the actual animation industry, but I figured that given half a chance I might be useful as a character designer. I figured it was a choice between New York or L.A., and even though I would have preferred NY, I had two friends in San Diego who offered to let me stay with them until I found a job (bless your hearts, Anne and Ed).

Thus, I sold everything of mine I could bear to part with (including a bunch of comics), put the rest in my parents basement, drove around Michigan to say goodbye to everyone and hit the open road.

As inexperienced as I was with travel and such things, I have always been something of an obsessive compulsive organizer... so, suffice it to say, I was not about to leave anything to chance on this trip, so I took detailed notes about what to take and where to go... here are some samples from my journals at the time:


(click on the images to enlarge them)



During week I actually left, Michigan got hit with one of its worst winters ever. I was driving around in an almost complete whiteout. It almost seemed as though the weather was testing my resolve. On top of that, I had a positively wretched sinus infection that made it painful to breathe. I was given these enormous horse-pills by my doctor to help clear the infection, but I am unable to swallow pills (that's a whole other story entirely), so I had to chew them... 3 times a day for about 2 weeks. They were awful.

Anyway, as I said, blizzards engulfed Michigan that month, so getting out of the state was taking WAY longer than I had expected... I was literally about 5 miles away from the border when I got pulled over by a state trooper for speeding (I'm certain I wasn't going more than 7 MPH over the limit, but because of the snow and ice he wasn't too forgiving). The roads were deserted, and I explained to him that I was leaving the state - probably forever - hoping that it would sway him to just give me a warning and let me go. No dice. So my last 'goodbye' from the state of Michigan was a $200 speeding ticket. Great. I was already broke and in debt up to my eyeballs... I really didn't need this.

It was one of those situations where it would have seemed very easy to just turn around, go back home, live with mom and dad until my debts were down a little and maybe try this another time when circumstances weren't so daunting... it was a crossroads and, for the first time in my life, I took the road less travelled.

And, as cliche'd as it sounds, that's made all the difference...

More later...

NO TIME FOR BLOGGING

Well, our internet is working again (finally!). Nonetheless,Leigh and I have been constantly busy for the past couple of months, so with that in mind I present to you two REALLY OLD single-panel comics I did for my college newspaper, The Western Herald. My first comic strip, 'Fountain's Pen,' ran during the fall and winter semesters (the busy period) and was an actual narrative that was semiautobiographical (just like every other kid's college comic strip... I'll post some someday), but the summer newspaper was significantly smaller, so I crapped out a single-panel strip that was just meant to be surrealistic and weird. Yes, I was ripping off 'The Far Side' (in my own way)... practically everything I did from that time in my life was very transparently influenced by stuff I liked (the stuff I do now is just as derivitive, I've just gotten slightly better at hiding it). Looking back at these two strips, though, I'm pleased with how 'almost original' they are. I had intended on doing a whole boatload of 'The Secret Life of ----' strips, but then I accidentally graduated and those fascists at The Herald had this kooky rule that you had to be an enrolled student to contribute to the student newspaper. Bastards.
You can click on the image to make it bigger.

MARRIED!

Howdy, gang! Sorry it's been so long since we've had any updates here, but between starting new jobs(!), buying a house(!!), and getting married(!!!) Leigh and I have been stretched to our limits lately.
Plus, we're having major internet problems that require new hardware and all kinds of crap. I have to sit outside by our garage with the laptop just to write this update. It's a pain, but all things considered it's a small price to pay.
We both love our new jobs, the house is wonderful and the wedding was a blast... so we're both sitting on top of the world right now! I'll spare you the details since I know it's annoying to hear someone go on and on about how great life is.
I'll get back to the routine of putting up watercolors of fat guys and talking about robots sooner than you probably would have liked. So stay tuned!

LOVE IS STILL IN THE AIR

On February 17th last year I got engaged... on February 17th this year - this Saturday - I'll be getting married to the most wonderful woman on Earth.
I don't care how gooey all this sounds... everyone reading this should envy me.
Happy Valentine's Day.

REVIEW OF HOT MEXICAN LOVE COMICS

Apparently HOT MEXICAN LOVE COMICS #3 - which features a story by Leigh and I - was reviewed here:

http://comicmaker.blogspot.com

Mucho thanks to the Comic Makers, but you should have mentioned how great 'DON'T DRINK THE WATER' by Leigh Hope Phillips and John Fountain is.

But we'll forgive your oversight.

Anyway, give this site a visit and the review a listen.

I have nothing of interest to say today.

UPDATED: FAVORITE ANIMATED MUSIC VIDEOS - NOW INCLUDING GORILLAZ

Here's what an old fart I am: I can actually - clearly - REMEMBER a time when Mtv simply didn't exist. I remember it being invented. Crazy.
Anyway...
Music videos are an interesting phenomenon... most of the time, they're just marketing tools, but every great now and then, someone seizes the opportunity to embrace it as another form of artistic filmmaking and transcends the medium (for those of you who are struggling artists, take my advice and look for ANY opportunity in casual conversation to use the term 'transcends the medium'... it makes you sound all artsy and intellectual and you'll get an arts grant).
But, as usual, I digress...
When you approach music video as a 'multimedia art piece', it's easy to see why some of the most innovative directors/musicians choose animation as a way of providing a visual accompanyment to the music... in animation you can literally control every single image and every nanosecond of the timing.
For instance, if you're shooting a live-action video and you choose to have a scene outdoors, you can't control how the wind blows or what shape the clouds take... of course, sometimes this is precisely what the director WANTS for a sense of immediacey and a 'naturalistic' look... but, if you're trying to 'say' something very specific with your video, animation allows you to control the shape of every could and the speed at which it moves... the leaves on the trees in the background obey your commands... they can stand PERFECTLY still (something else that is virtually impossible in a live-action scene) or sway in a breeze of your creation... you could do a scene where trees swayed 'menacingly' if you wanted.
Anyway, with this in mind, I present to you 3 animated music videos that I can watch over and over and over and over ad infinitum (and, yes, I'm too stoopid to know how to actually post these videos here - so just cut and paste the links into your browser if you wanna watch the videos. Or don't. I won't lose a lot of sleep over it either way).

Gorillaz - "Clint Eastwood"
I'm filled with shame that I forgot to include this in the original post. I have no excuse, but let's move on with our lives, shall we?
Now, the fact that Jamie Hewlett came up with an animated pop band is enviable in and of itself, but let's just focus on this particular video...
This video is an absolutely brilliant example of what you can do when you actually COMBINE different animation techniques instead of relying on any single element to be the "star". You could technically classify this video as LIMITED animation with the sheer amount of re-use it utilizes.
When this thing came out, I simply could not stop watching it, taking the time to watch it repeatedly frame-by-frigging-frame.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpDer9wdUEw

Linkin Park - "Breaking the Habit"
The animation styling and art direction on this are so gorgeous I could watch this all day and never stop loving it. Not a wasted line. Not a wasted movement. Very deliberately 'anti-slick' yet clearly created with absolute precision and purpose. I also dig the song a lot, but it's the only Linkin Park song I'm familiar with. I can't honestly say one way or the other whether or not I would like it if it weren't attatched to this video. Maybe, maybe not.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWZWZP0KrnE

Tenacious D - "Wonder Boy" - Anime Music Video
What's odd about this addition into my little rant is that this is NOT the actual video for the song... this is a masterfully edited series of clips from the endlessly brilliant Japanese anime 'FLCL' put to an equally brilliant Tenacious D tune.
The reason I include this is to point out that editing, like anything else, CAN be an artform when the editor has a vision.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFmNNRIdbCE

Peter Gabriel - "Sledge Hammer"
What can I possibly say about this video that hasn't been said a million times already and a million times better? It's art. It's sheer brilliance. SO far ahead of it's time. While everyone else was making videos that were basically just taped concert performances or gyrating bikini girls trying not to laugh at David Lee Roth, Peter Gabriel made THIS. Peter Gabriel is the greatest musical genius of the modern age. Period. If you disagree, you are utterly and pathetically wrong.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaPYQysTHtA

ARGH! I mean, seriously... AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!

Look - I'm sorry I haven't been updating regularly, okay? Cut me some slack... if you knew everything that was going on in my life right now (which I have no intention of relaying) you'd sympathize.
You'd say "Whoah, dude! You weren't kiddin'... you ARE busy! I'll just leave you alone..."
Part of the problem is that I'm feeling inhibited about what I want to do with this stupid blog (I realize the term "stupid blog" is WILDLY reduntant since all blogs are stupid, but I digress...).
At first it was gonna be all rants, then it turned into a big art debate, then it turned into social commentary, lately it's been a lot of movies/tv/pop-culture stuff.
I've got a lotta stuff to throw out there... for instance, everyone should rent "IDIOCRACY" - it's positively one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. It was written and directed by Mike Judge and it dares to make the accusation that people are stupid and getting dangerously stupider with every generation. So if you're really stupid, don't rent it 'cause you'll just get all pissed off (it is my assumption that this was the reason it was never released theatrically - test audiences of stupid people).
See, now, I just deleted something else that I wrote because I'm convinced everyone would take it the wrong way and just get mad at me. That's how the world is these days. You have to live in constant fear of 'offending' people because it seems as though people go through life LOOKING for reasons to be offended by stuff. It's very inhibiting. I suppose if I were interested in being a commentator for a living I would throw the dice and post it - but what's the point? I just wanna draw goofy shit. So - anyway - sorry to deny you a paragraph that I'm sure would have either outraged you, intrigued you or bored you to death.
Lots of exciting and fun stuff has been going on in the little Fountain household lately, but it's all just so happy and positive that reporting on it would probably just make everyone ill. So I'll spare you. You can thank me by buying "BIRTHDAY WISHES" at Amazon.com (scroll down for details). I thank you all in advance.
And, of course, by "you all" I mean my 2 or 3 friends who regularly check this site and then the random folks who hit my link by accident when they were visiting GOOD blogs like the ones listed below.
By the way, for those of you wondering why Leigh's blog is mysteriously absent, the short answer is that she took it down for a while 'cause she's too busy to do anything with it. Obviously, she's not as desperate for attention as I am.
So, that's it for now. Sorry this wasn't more interesting. I'll try to be all ranty and pithy next time.
In the meantime, here are some kreechors.
Enjoy.

KILL THE KID: More Observations on 'Superman Returns'

Okay, so it's been, like, forever since I've posted anything new - if I thought you really cared, I'd apologize... but I find that notion extremely difficult to believe, so I shant waste my sincerity.
Suffice it to say, Leigh and I have been busier than any of you can possibly comprehend. I'll give the full report some other time when I'm not knee-deep in it, but trust me when I say that we are simply batshit insane.
Anyway...
I hope you all had a lovely holiday season (GOD I'm sick of the word 'holiday'... we're all just oh-so-sensitive... argh... that's another rant) and a happy new year.
A special, massive thanks to those of you who actually went online and bought 'BIRTHDAY WISHES'. It means a lot to us and we truly hope you enjoy the book. There will be at least one other John and Leigh collaboration coming out this year (possibly more) - so I'll keep ya posted.
But back to my topic for the day...
One of the Christmas presents Leigh got for me was the special edition 'Superman Returns' DVD... it was, in fact, something I asked for in spite of the fact that - as you may recall - I was not particularly thrilled with the movie. But the fact is, I have seen many movies and hated them upon first viewing and loved them upon the second viewing. Who knows why? I certainly can't explain it.
Another example of this phenomenon I can site was 'The Hulk'... I liked it okay the first time I saw it, but then I saw it again and came away thinking it was not only 'great' but at times it was downright brilliant. But, again, that's another topic for another time...
'Superman Returns'...
In a bunch of the behind-the-scenes footage, they talk a lot about how long it took them to get to make this movie... as many of you may or may not know, a 'Superman' movie had been in development at Warner Brothers for over a decade before this one finally came out. There was a version with Kevin Smith as the screenwriter, Tim Burton as the director, Nicholas Cage as Superman, etc. etc. etc. "So what?" I can almost hear you saying... but THINK about it... WB must have spent countless MILLIONS over the course of 10 years going around and around with how to re-invent the franchise, and after all that time and money what they finally got around to was an incarnation that was only slightly different from the movies with Christopher Reeves! What a waste of time, energy and resources. It's no wonder the movie industry is in such a slump... it took them ten years and all that money to come full circle. I'm sorry, but if you can't figure out that the way to make a buck off a movie with SUPERMAN in it, I just don't have any sympathy for you.
What breaks my heart about this movie is that it had such potential. The scene where he catches the falling jet in the middle of a baseball stadium? WONDERFUL! The movie is sprinkled with little moments that just make me ache for it to be a better movie. Unfortunately, there are just too many major flaws that get in the way of that.
Firstly, I would have enjoyed the film at least 40% more if it weren't for Kate Bosworth's awfulness. Lois Lane? Please.
Can somebody please stop casting these Kewpie-Doll-faced 'Dawson's Creek' rejects as reporters, scientists, doctors and what-not? Women like her become actresses on 'The O.C.' - they don't become hard-hitting newspaper journalists.
I'm not saying Lois Lane needs to be ugly... but c'mon... Bosworth looks like she's 19. Did she get her degree in journalism in grade-school?
Anyway...
One of the other themes that is effectively pounded into our heads is this notion of 'The Father becomes the Son and the Son becomes the -blah-blah-blah psychobabble bullshit". This kid from Krypton who becomes a hero was Clark Kent - Kansas farmboy LONG before he was Superman. He didn't spend his life wondering who his 'real' father was... his real father was Jonathan Kent. Superman is Clark's alter-ego... not the other way around. What makes Superman a great character is that he is NOT a Kryptonian demigod... he was just a regular small-town kid who discovered that he has special abilities.
The whole plot is that Superman went into space to try to find the remains of Krypton... why? Was he hoping is birthparents were still there?! He abandoned his friends, career, AGING MOTHER and post as superhero so that he could find: NOTHING!?
Superman wouldn't do that. He's not that selfish. Pa Kent taught him better than that.
Consequently, the other major plotpoint that makes me cringe every time I think about it is this hippie-haired little moppet as the Superman/Lois Lane love-child. I just don't know how to put into words how awful this is. It'll take too much time... but the fact of the matter is, NOTHING ruins an action movie more than the presence of some adorable little kid. Ugh.
Which brings me to my brilliant concept for the sequel that will fix most of these problems (unfortunately it looks like there's no getting rid of Bosworth)... in the next movie Lex Luthor should KILL SUPERMAN'S SON!
What better way to give Superman a whole new reason to hate Luthor? What better way to give his character more complexity? I mean, let's face it... Superman has never really suffered real LOSS before. In the first movie he 'almost' lost Lois, but he made time retract and saved her life... yeah, sure, Pa Kent died... but he basically died of a weak heart brought on by old age... okay, so he never knew his real parents or home planet, but how can you really feel loss for something you never had? But killing his only SON? Yowza! Now THAT'S dramatic! The crushing loss would make him realize his selfishness, remind him that Earth is his real home, and he would have a whole new motivation for being a hero.
Of course, they'd never do this in a million years 'cause Hollywood has gotten so chickenshit. We'll simply be subjected to several sequels with Superman and son flying around like Batman and Robin (from the 60's tv show) with several adorable scenes of little Jason learning to use his powers alongside his dad. Ugh. I need a Rolaids just thinking about it.
The final nail in the coffin that holds 'Superman Returns' is that I don't see ANYONE having any fun in it. They're all just kinda doing what they're told and everyone's taking it too seriously.
I truly think the key to success in ANY line of work whether it's plumbing, accounting or making movies is to somehow make the job fun. If everyone LIKES their job, they do better work. 'Superman Returns' has some fine talent in it... but they all seem so inhibited by the crushing weight of the responsibility of carrying this iconic movie that they're all stifled and there's no chemistry with any of the cast.
Oh well... I gave the movie another chance... I'm happy that I own it if for no other reason that I can watch the plane-cathing scene over and over again.
Take my advice, Warner Brothers... in the next movie: kill off that kid!