Tag: horror

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Monster (Mash) Cereal

I was never a big “cereal kid” growing up. I mean, I’ve certainly had my fair share of chomping the classics like Fruit Loops, Trix, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch (my personal favorite). But it was never a morning routine for me. When it comes to General Mill’s classic Monster Cereals, would you believe I only had my first bowl back in 2016?! It was Boo Berry. A true-blue delight. Followed by FrankenBerry. Still to this day I’ve never had Count Chocula. GASP. I treat cereal like candy. A sweet reward to have once in a while. Definitely not a morning routine. I’d like to keep my teeth, thank you. 

Regardless, I’m all about cereal mascots especially when they’re classic monsters. I always pick up a box or two of Booberry and/or Frankenberry come Halloween time. I decided to draw two of the head honchos this season in a blocky wrinkly fashion. I drew these with Instagram in mind. The presentation of a square being the concept. The monsters being “smashed” into your viewing portal. They’ve gotten an excellent response so I decided to give them the ‘ol sticker treatment. You can click the image below to view them and give them a stick if you’d like: 

Even though I’m no cereal connoisseur, I still love the bright boxes, mascots, and prizes. Oddly, cereal has become a bit of a Halloween tradition for me in the form of the Monster Cereals. In fact, I even won this year’s giveaway of Monster figures! Excited about that! So thanks for checking out my art and I hope everyone has a safe and spooktacular Halloween. Have a bowl of Count Chocula for me. Because I know I won’t.

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The Horrifying Hatted Head of My Horror Host

It’s surprising upon putting pencil to paper that I realized I never had drawn Chicago’s very own creature feature host: Svengoolie prior.

Svengoolie, like many young Chicagoans before me, introduced generations to classic (and not-so-classic) horror and reeled many into the art of the late night “Creature Feature”. Taking over the titular role in the late 1970s from Jerry G. Bishop, Svengoolie was more than just a horror host. Every Saturday night in the 1990s I parked myself in front of the television and watched Sven’s alter ego (Rich Koz) host Stooge-a-Palooza followed by Svengoolie.

His wacky humor was always comforting when showing a more scary feature but also synced up with the more campy silly movies. He was a bonding agent between my mom and myself as well, as she often recalled soaking up classic monsters via Bishop’s Svengoolie in the late 60’s and 70’s.

For me, Svengoolie always was. As natural as the sunset or rain. And he’s been a local legend in Chicago’s history. If you knew Svengoolie, you were from here. It’s been over a decade since he’s gone national, but he hasn’t lost his luster. I’m glad we aren’t selfish when it comes to Sven, as the horror host is an endangered species. I’ve recently wondered what will happen when Rich Koz retires. Which he’s hinted at numerous times recently. I truly hope someone worthy in his eyes picks up the mantle, as I’d despise the American tradition of the late night Creature Feature tumbling to its death like King Kong.

So I put pencil to paper (as well as ink and color) to create my take on a Svengoolie piece. I combined several of my older “pen and ink” monster pieces into his hat. I put this together as an 18×24 canvas piece and shipped it, along with a short heartfelt note, to Svengoolie’s production studio with the hopes of him simply seeing it.

I’ll keep an eye out if it ends up featured in someway on his weekly show; and I’ll update this post if it indeed does.

UPDATE (10/02): IT INDEED DID.

This aired on October 1st’s episode featuring “Trilogy of Terror” starring Karen Black.

Pretty awesome way to kick off the Halloween season. When it comes to my art, I like bringing things full circle. Sitting in front of a television on Saturday nights watching this man present horror films that shaped my interests as a child, and then seeing something like this…paying respect in my own way and for it be be acknowledged on the show I grew up watching? That’s what it’s all about. Bucket list checked off. I can die happy now.

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Ghost Rider 1929

I’ve found it pretty refreshing working on my old my Batman: Zero concept. It sort of got some gears turning. Especially back to my teenage days of daydreaming and sketching out my various superhero takes. I’ll admit this one wasn’t an old idea. I’ve been watching a few James Cagney gangster movies and it simply got me thinkin’.

Ghost Rider is such a fun comic character. Having a “legacy”, “mantle”, or “gimmick” that can crown different characters can be enticing. But it can also be trash. Johnny Blaze, Danny Ketch, Robbie Reyes. Whom ever you prefer as Ghost Rider is up to you. But I decided to take him back, not so much to the old west, but to a dangerous (often lawless) era of history.

Chicago 1929. The height of prohibition. A lowly gangster sells his soul to the demon Mephisto so he may live once again, as he lay dying from a botched robbery. Although given a second chance, he inevitably learns his family was brutally gunned down by Al Capone’s gangster goons. A mere consequence for his line of business. 

Furious and vengeful, the gangster thwarts Mephisto’s attempt to collect his soul. But the deceitful Mephisto, instead, gets revenge by bonding the gangster with Zarathos: a demon of vengeance. 

Now the streets of Chicago run red with the blood of guilty mobsters. Armed with his supernatural hellfire tommy gun, Penance Stare, and fire-tired “Hellmobile”, Ghost Rider wages not only an internal battle with the demon within…but an external one that can only end with Capone’s heart in his ghostly hand!

I formatted the images for Instagram but I figured I’d share them here as well. If the idea of a flaming skeleton gangster firing a hellfire tommy gun while hanging out of a fire-tired 1929 Mercedes Benz doesn’t spark your interest…than I don’t really even know why you’re here.