The Ink Stained Wretch #247 7/29/26

Time again for another of the childish, cantankerous, and convoluted collections of crap that are these newsletters! This week we put a bow on SDCC 2026... on with the ‘Wretch!

Geeking Out in So Cal

San Diego Comic-Con was its usual exhausting, crazy, exhilarating, overwhelming and wonderful event. The Lovely Anna and I always stay Sunday night after the con and fly out a bit later in the day on Monday just so we can decompress and take a deep breath. That Monday we basically sit in comparative silence and look around with blank stares as our brains recoup from four plus days of non-stop talking and interacting with the crush of humanity that attends Comic-Con.

I had plans to do several Substack “Notes” live from the con and share pictures of some of the stuff I drew for customers, but after multiple attempts to do it resulted in “failed to upload” messages I gave up. Maybe next time I’ll have it figured out.

I honestly get to experience very little of the convention itself. I do not go walking around much exploring the exhibitor floor. By sometime Friday my list of booked commissions has already exceeded what I will be able to complete onsite, despite my coming in as early as exhibitors are allowed to get in to the convention center every morning to work on said list. This year I was booked solid by the end of Thursday, and took commission orders to bring home and complete here in the studio. Here’s a few of them:

DC Comics gave away a special comic con exclusive reprint of MAD #1 (1952 version) which had a blank back cover for sketches. I drew on more than a few of those, as well as my “mock MAD cover” boards, “Live Caricature” style drawings and assorted sketchbooks and blank comic covers. Besides my own table I am also in charge of helping to organize and set up the National Cartoonists Society’s booth.

All that leaves little time to just wander around and soak it all in. That’s okay with me... I enjoy chatting with the people who walk up to my table more than seeing the endless eye candy on the floor (and fighting the crowds). Plus I don’t then blow all the money I am making doing these commissions buying geeky stuff. Many of those who stop by are old friends or “regulars” who always visit my table, but most are people I’ve never met and we talk about the old and new of MAD. It’s always great to hear from people who have seen and (hopefully) enjoyed my work.

I did participate in two panels this year. On Thursday we did a presentation on the 80th Anniversary of the National Cartoonists Society:

Former NCS and NCS Foundation president Steve McGarry and son Joe put the show together, and it was a great look back at the history of the NCS, what the organization is all about, and a look at what the Society is up to today. The panel included Steve, former NCS presidents Jeff Keane, Bill Morrison and myself, current NCS president Karen Evans, current board member Lex Fajardo, and Reuben Award winner Greg Evans. I’m told the presentation will be put online at some point soon, and I will certainly share that to subscribers of the ‘Wretch when it happens.

The other program I did was “Quick Draw”, which is a very popular comedic show where three cartoonists are onstage doing super-fast sketches of jokes and gags pertaining to subjects that are given them on the spot. We are given no advanced warning of what we’ll be asked to draw, and some of it comes from the audience. Quick Draw host Mark Evanier keeps us on our toes. My fellow cartoonists on the stage were animator and comic artist Scott Shaw! and editorial cartoonist Lalo Alcarez. A few other artists were brought up for a couple of the “games” including “Elfquest” legend Wendy Pini and longtime comics artist (and fellow Minnesotan) Dan Jurgens. It’s nerve wracking to do this and I am a nervous wreck during it because it is a huge crowd, but is great fun.

Here’s a quick video my daughter Gabrielle filmed of one moment during the show. Mark handed us each a piece of paper with the caption “I’m Batman” on it. We needed to draw something to match the caption:

I am just coming out of the decompression stage after a few days back home, and now have a huge stack of take home commissions to get to. To that end I didn’t do a “Sketch o’the Week” this week but instead filmed myself doing one of those commissions on the back one of the DC MAD giveaway comic from beginning to (almost) end for our “Premium Subscriber” video. Here’s the final art:

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See you next year, San Diego Comic-Con! I should be just about recovered from 2026 when SDCC 2027 opens.

That’s it for this week’s “Ink Stained Wretch”! As always, if you liked what you saw please share it with others. Remember I’m always looking for feedback, questions for the mailbag, and suggestions for future Sketch o’the Week subjects. Just reply to this email with any of the above! And always remember... it’s crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide!