A parallel project

A little while back I posted this image:

I've decided that this is not just a one-off joke, but is another comic in progress.

Drawing my main comic pages takes a lot of concentration for extended periods of time, and I haven't had a lot of that available to me lately, but I have still wanted to draw. Gag comics are much less demanding than the longer stories I've been doing; they're easier to dip in and out of.

I've also had a lot of ideas over the last few years for young Val gag strips. There hasn't been a place for me to put them, since all the young Val comics I've done so far have been longer mystery stories, and while I can work jokes into those stories, not every joke makes sense outside the context of a short gag strip.

So as I work on finishing up No Raccoons in Hell, I'm also going to work on Val and her Pals. It'll be a full color minicomic, and I think it will prove to be a good place to put my efforts when I can't focus on No Raccoons.

Maybe I’ll finish Val and her Pals earlier than No Raccoons in Hell. Maybe it'll be later. Maybe I'll get them done at approximately the same time so I have two new comics to send out.

Anyway, here's a new piece of Val and her Pals. To anyone who read the same comics from the 70s and 80s I read, the reference is obvious.

Hostess ran comic ads for their horrible snacks in comics, drawn by real comic book artists. I knew what Hostess snacks were YEARS before the first time I tasted one, and my reaction was kind of like Val's - they taste like chemicals!

If you're interested in these generally, here are some links.

Here's a page which has been a repository for the superhero versions of these for years now.

and here's the ebay page for someone who sells bootleg books of Hostess ads. It looks like they've sold out of (or been cease and desisted out of) their Marvel and DC collections.

...and here's my art of the Duchess Cream Pies packaging:

Work on No Raccoons in Hell will continue. Val and her Pals is not a replacement. It's something I can put time and effort into in a different way than I work on No Raccoons in Hell that will provide me with the feeling of creating something and will provide patreon subscribers and other readers with less time between chuckles.

A slightly longer version of this post appears on my patreon.

Take care!