Easter Eggs To Me?

This is getting odd. It's one thing to see story ideas or characters that resemble each other, because there's been a lot of genre-borrowing over the centuries.

And then there's some very specific stuff that is so oddly the same you start to wonder.

My comics, The Desert Peach, and Stinz, have had a world-wide audience for years. I'm beginning to wonder if other creatives who know my work - especially writers in much more recent film and animation - are throwing little Easter Eggs to me. I would be so delighted if they were.

I can't prove this. Just take a look and think about it.

ZOOTOPIA: There are a bunch of stupid wolves guarding the secret project. In Stinz, there are a bunch of bachelor wolves my fans call The Stupid Wolves. They even look somewhat like the ones in Zootopia - and they're about as bright. 

I wouldn't think that was enough to prove those are my images - but look at the secret installation on the lake with its causeway, and then look at the mill and the mill-race in Stinz. The two things together have me wondering. What do you think?

THE HATEFUL EIGHT: This is really an oddly one. In Tarantino's movie, Sam Jackson shows up as a man who famously served in the Union army as a Major. So he's the Black Major. That's just one point - but his old enemies have a ransom on his aging head? Stinz was the Black Major - and had a ransom on him. And had gotten old.

FROZEN: I know there's a reindeer in the original Snow Queen. But the role of the reindeer and the person who rides him is much more like Udo and his reindeer in The Desert Peach. What do you think about that in addition to the birch trees?

THE GOOD LIAR: This one is sensitive. First and foremost, the REAL bad guys in that movie are the Nazis, that screw up two families SO BAD. 

"Taub" is commonly a Jewish name in Germany. Jews who were officially Germans - yes, the Nazis took over the roll of the Rabbis in saying who was Jewish - served in the German army. They could visit their official Jewish relatives in camps before the war started, and all access were closed to the camps, which were then devoted to extermination. 

Taub's relatives seem to have already died in the camps. This is a weird complex idea, and you see it in The Desert Peach, between Udo and Leutnant Winzig.

It's what makes the movie even more horrible. I'm not saying anybody saw this - because this kind of stuff happened all the time. 

There you go. If these are coincidences, so be it. But if they're Easter Eggs - thanks, guys! 

Final note: one Stinz character is the village blacksmith. He has a pet black rooster who is really a demon. One of the woodcutters up here has a pet red rooster who follows him everywhere. 

Both birds are named "Chicken."

If Your Fans Are Happy...

San Diego Comicon. My publisher and I open a box of books we'd received just in time for the show. Because our printer was always perfect and pristine, this is the ONE time we didn't ask for a proof copy, in order to make the show deadline.

This was in the days of paper layout. We literally waxed certain elements into place. As we pulled the first copy of the book from the box, we saw – the waxed title logo had fallen off the front cover, and the book had been printed without its title. It had shipped all over the world AND IT HAD NO TITLE.

This was a Desert Peach issue dealing with rape in the military. The cover art I had done was graphic and frightening. Staring in horror at the book with no name, we looked up to see the first approaching fan. With a copy of this book in his hand. We braced ourselves. The fan lifted the book, and said, in awe:

“This is so profound. You let Donna's artwork speak for itself.”

While I was still standing there with my eyeballs and tongue stuck in place, my editor responded – cool as a copperhead:

“Yes, it was a difficult artistic decision, but I trust Donna in her vision.”

I jumped right in and pretended along with him. I am still in awe of his quick thinking and outright gall.

Do I have to tell anyone my publisher – as a child in Texas – went to cotillion?

What we learned: if the fans think whatever you do is wonderful, agree with them. It doesn't matter if you've made a mistake. If they're happy, say Thank You and pretend you meant to do that.

The Desert Peach up at Webtoon

The Desert Peach on Webtoons!

My Distribution List - Help Your Favorite Shops

Right now, Anne Bean of Emerald Comics Distribution has made sure my books go into Northwest Shops. Here is a list of the shops ECD serves.

Now for a list of shops that carry my work right now, and others that could be encouraged to pick them up. If you live nearby any of the following stores, and you want my books, check them out first!

The Dreaming is the best place to go - "Loves it, keeps it in stock, buys back issues."

Left Bank "Buys issues, sells slowly," but will be kept stocked.

Push/Pull is "Happy to stock issues," move slowly. So go help them move quickly! Same for Left Bank.

Dreamstrands: "Loves your work, keeps some in stock." Again, doesn't get a lot of stock - so help move up those numbers for these good shops. 

Now here are shops need your support to start sharing my books. If any of them are the shop most convenient to you, do drop in and request my books. If they want to know how to get my books, just refer them to Anne Bean, whose link is at the top of this posting. She is very good at making things happen. If your shop isn't on this list, tell the shop owner about Anne, and me, and we'll make your comics experience even better. 

Fantagraphics Bookstore and Gallery. Say "hi" to Larry for me! I love this shop whether they carry my work or not. They're family.

Olympic Cards and Comics. Gabi says she LOVES my work, but needs customers who want it. Go give her some for me!

Phoenix Comics doesn't stock back issues. But there's a new Afterdead collection with new stuff that's not even appeared on the website.

Arcane Comics They don't have my work right now, but they love special ordering from Emerald Comics. Tell them what YOU want specially ordered!

Floating World Comics MIGHT sell if customers want. If you live nearby and want my books directly, do drop in.

Desert Peach Concert Kickstarter

Who wants to see a concert based on a book about a nice gay man who ends up in the German army because he doesn't want to do politics?

Yes, we're doing it again - going for a Kickstarter to turn the 1992 Desert Peach musical into a concert. 

If you want to earn a rank in our army, our just be a private soldier, go to the link. 

If you want to see the Alternate Timeline video, go to this link. 

It won't be full costume, but it will be ten singers, at least, doing all the great parts from the wonderful songs by Michael Seyfrit. We may even have some of the original cast on board!

Share this as much as you can, and help us make it happen again. It was so much fun for everybody last time - and it's time for it again.

Desert Peach, Usagi Yojimbo, Fighting Forestry Fools

AFTERDEAD, U. Yojimbo, Times cartoon.

Thanks to Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy for helping me ink. So let's take on three things at once. At least it will give the ink time to dry between pages.

Getting another AFTERDEAD page done, or at least the inks, on the left.

The forestry cartoon (right) is after this foolishness in Time Magazine. I've realized there's a dysfunction in the minds of the people who raise our food, and I'm getting them next. I'll post a better shot after I scan all this stuff.

If you're thinking, "My, that is a sparse and not-fancy art station," it gives me the chance to use this quote (of which I'm kinda proud, so there):

Monday, October 14, 2013, from Chris Ariel Grant's book, "Bohica Blues."

"I realized you don't to be magic or rich, or even completely wired down tight (in fact, it helps to be a bit off kilter to do this stuff), just be willing to actually do it. 

"But one huge influence that paid off later was Donna Barr's "The Desert Peach". While a lot of artists I knew fussed about having the "right" tools, pens, brushes, a certain shade of ink, exact-weight paper harvested from the trees on the shore of a mystical lake in the Tibetan mountains, and other resources, I'd watch Donna Barr grab, literally, a ballpoint pen and a piece of paper and churn out her next comic chapter in a couple hours. Years later, in the Iraq desert, I remembered that ability to work with any resource and not to let excuses come between me and getting a project done. While I admit I prefer certain tools and resources, all I truly need is pen, paper, and lots of coffee."

Which always makes me happy, to know I've helped the next person sit down and start drawing and writing. 

For Sharon

Stan Sakai's wife Sharon is under cancer treatment, and you know how artists raise money - we all chip in something pretty for an art auction. As Dan says, "You might as well be printing your own money." 

Well, we don't have money, but we have art, so I did this little cartoon of a misunderstanding over what Usagi Y. had actually buried. I don't think Stan has any alligator characters (?), but gators are notoriously willing to take on any chance at a good thing. Here's the rough, and the final inks.

Don't touch!

As you can see, I don't ink in roughs very neatly. I kind of get the generals down - in this case, after researching Stan's characters on the 'net - and then I light-table the inks quickly.

I've put the "WTF is going on here??" text in, upside down. I'm sure Stan will get it right away, but if not, this will make it a puzzle, and it's traditional to put in the answers on the same page, and upside-down. You'll note my little technique of getting the whole comics page into one gag by sorta telling the story with background sound effects. I think Don Martin did that too? I dunno; I'm sure I didn't invent it. They probably had it in Egyptian tomb painting.

And here's the pretty final, all painted up.

Paper Dolls In My Books

Thank you, the paper-doll-collecting reader who asked for them. If you go to Indyplanet, these are the issues with paper dolls in them:

Desert Peach #8 Rosen (Reprint inside back).
 
Desert Peach #16 Chaplain Stange (Reprint behind main story)
 
Desert Peach #17 Peach and Udo FULL COLOR (Reprint inside front and inside back) AND Barb Rausch's Udo-and-Falila paper dolls on every single story page, including the two of them in their adorable all-to-gethers.
 
Stinz #18 Baronin FULL COLOR (Reprint outside back)
 
Stinz #19 Kilan FULL COLOR (Reprint outside back)

There's a paper coll of Udo somewhere, but I dunno if it's in one of the reprints. I searched through all the reprints, but I may not have put it into any of the books.

WHO is that man, anyway?

EVERYBODY keeps saying Dr. Who ripped off Rosen in The Desert Peach, with a character named "Jack Harkness."

While I know my biggest fan base is my peers, the Pilot Who Shags Everybody And Everything has been around since - well, cavalry officers. BlackAdder has their own version in the World War One episodes. Red Dwarf has the alternate Rimmer. The Brits in particular do it well. Woof.

Even "The Mummy" had a mummy guard who did a neat flip with his spear before he put it to use, as Viktor MacLaughlin did with his rifle in "Gunga Din." Not only a professional soldier, but probably the hot guy in the squad.

Now, in my case, Rosen is based on a boyfriend I had in the army, who actually DID introduce himself with outspread arm wings as "Hi! It's me - Old Crash-and-Burn!" Who looked pretty much like Rosen (I go for guys who look like Dad, with the black hair and blue eyes. Oh, what? We like our own genes).

I've never watched more than a couple of episodes of the old Pertwee Dr. Who, and it didn't quite push my buttons. But one of my readers sent me a link to a funny Jack Harkness montage on YouTube.

It's pretty funny. You will giggle.

I dunno if I'll ever be a Dr. Who fan, but this makes me think it would be fun to see if the library has later versions of the series. The other actors are pretty funny, and the robot ladies are cool, in a retro Richard Lester way.

Prowlie and Jazz -- the Interview

A Fan at DeviantArt is asking me questions and agreed to let me post the answers.  Interviews are like programming:  Garbage In Garbage Out.  Ask good questions, get good answers.  Ask stupid cliché questions, see what you get.  Our friend here asks good ones.  But you kinda have to know the series to understand some of the questions.  Go to The Desert Peach.

Oh, and if you like her page, tell her so!  

S:  Couple of questions about the (DeviantArt DesertPeach) group. Are there any groups here on DA you'd like to affiliate with? Also, would it be ok to use some of your Peach art to make the group banner with?

D:  You can do whatever you want. Remember, I released my stuff for anybody to draw, write or sell what they produce, as long as it's not my original stuff. Yes, I pulled a Roddenbarry.  If you want to use my art for a banner, that's Fair Use.

D:  Nobody can write or draw 'em like me. Why shouldn't I let them play with them and get paid for the effort? As long as they tell everybody where they got the stuff and link 'em to my sites (as a courtesy) I'm pretty happy.

S:  And did Rosen mean his passion for Peach had died, or passion in general? Cause he sure was oogling them roller derby girls.

D:  I have no idea what the rules for passion in the afterlife are. Rosen sounds like he's getting a break from his.

S:  Started reading Afterdead. I gotta admit, you put Peach in some sexy outfits, and with the black remembering fingernails, it makes him look goth-yum! But why didn't Udo's turn black when he remembered Peach?

D:  In the final pages, before I published them on paper, the fingernails were corrected for Udo.

(S. asked why, in the original book, Winzig put Udo on the train to Siberia, after Udo had saved Winzig earlier from being shot by the Americans.)

D:  Udo got caught between Winzig's honesty and grief. NOT a good place to be.  And Winzig didn't know his life had been saved.  He was pretty wrapped up in the girl, at that point.  He really is one of those people with severe tunnel vision. 

S:  (Re the episode where Winzig puts Udo on the Train:)  What's honesty and grief gotta do with sending a dude that kept you from being shot by the Amis to Siberia? Winzig reminds me so much of my TF2 Medic Gustav.

D: People are all a little nuts at the end of a long war.  And you know what they say about the Forest and the Trees.

S:  And I'm STILL trying to figure out why Rosen went along with the whole Babette thing. If Peach became straight, he wouldn't want Rosen anymore... Though seeing Udo and Rosen fight over who got to hold the baby was hilarious.

D: Because Rosen is an oversexed fuckhead pilot.

S:  Why'd you stop doing Peach? There's still so many things to be said and done! Or was it one of those things, you decided it was time to loan them out to the fans and see what they do with them?

D: I said a lot of them in Bread and Swans. And they continue in AFTERDEAD.

S:  And I'm confused about the whole owning copy write thing Peach did on Georg. Does that technically mean Georg is owned by Peach? And why did he do that? To take care of him? And how can a dead own a living? My head hurts...yet I am intrigued.

D: That's from earlier AFTERDEAD -- and I gotta post all of it to Indyplanet or something, other than on Amazon, 'splains that. It's crazy and complicated. Don't worry about it. It just means he can annoy the hell out of Georg.

S:  Oh yes, and my friend wants to know "Why Rosen is such an irresistable asshat?"

D: We've all had toxic candy in our life, haven't we?

S:  I has more of them (questions).

D:  Is we alls gon end up wis LolSpeak? :)

S:  What are those half-human/half-horse things in Afterdead (like Hans)?  I've been reading AFTERDEAD and I'm unclear as to what they are.  Are they sentient like a human, or a pet or horse or what?  How did they come to be? 

D:  Those are from "Bosom Enemies" -- another series I'll be running like The Desert Peach and Stinz.

D:  They're sentient.  I think their status is kind of like service horse.  Like Swiss horses -- all Swiss draft horses have to spend 3 years in the army.  They "belong" to the little horse-headed people.

I don't know how they came to be.  In BE, they're made from humans.  But BE isn't AFTERDEAD.  I think of my characters as actors -- "Casting Call!  Looking for any characters willing to be in this story."

S:  Also, I remember the episode "Invites" where Hans seemed to have a crush on the roller derby pivot.  Would that be acceptable if he were to act on it?  Kinda wondering if they'd consider that bestiality, considering he has a horse dong.

D:  In the Reich, nobody intrudes on anybody else's sex life.  If it's Consenting Adults (the emphasis on "Consenting") it's nobody's business unless you want it to be.  They don't control people through sex in that society. They have other little ways.

S:  And face horses..where the heck did they come from?  And don't they and the half-human/half-horses get annoyed having bits in their mouth?  And what about the half-human/half-horse critter that walks on his hands?  OUCH!  I wouldn't want anyone riding on me.  And is that the same Hans Pfirsich took care of at the end of the war-the orphan? 

D:  In the old Black Manuscripts stories, they're descended from rebels who were made into animals.  They're used to bits, and being ridden on, like we're used to clothes and shoes.  We're all domesticated, one way or the other.

I have a costumer friend who raises goats. She runs around her farm barefoot.  Her poor feet are shod with a layer of hard, horny skin NOTHING can get through.  Same thing with the hands of these horse things.

When I write other things, I don't think about MY life, I think about THEIR lives.  What's weird to me is common to them.  

The Desert Peach on Kindle

Readers praise the few copies of The Desert Peach up on Kindle.

Those were processed and posted by my agent, Dave Baxter.  It's interesting one reader simply downloaded the book to read on his computer.

Donna Barr Lets Her Characters Go Play With Fans

I love my agents.  Letter from me to Dave Baxter and Dallas Miller, of Killing The Grizzly.

"Hi, D & D:

I would like to extend a huge gift to my fans, but I want to ask you first.  You know how Gene Roddenberry allowed anyone to sell any Star-Trek-related things they created themselves?  I'd like to do the same with my work.  Not the old stuff you're representing -- anything THEY make, new and pretty.  I'll let you hyperventilate for a bit, and then get back with me."

Dave Baxter:

"Hyperventilate?  Hell, no, that sounds fantastic.  I mean, personally, I think every creator should pirate their own work and stick it out on torrents and forums and P2P sires.  Anyone who downloads the work there and reads it on a computer (un-ideal) wasn't going to give you money anyway, either due to not having any money or just being a stubborn ass, but either way I don't believe you actually lose anything and you gain word of mouth and exposure.

Creator-approved fan-fic (even for profit) is a profound idea, and can do nothing but good.  It's free marketing and reader engagement for publishers, too.  On paper they all have to poo-poo these kinds of ideas, but if they're already in motion.... :)

Dave Baxter (of Dave Baxter and Dallas Miller, of Killing The Grizzly).

So there you go, folks.  Go nuts.  Send me stuff (email files, copies, links) to read or enjoy.  Sell it without worrying about paying me.  Invent new characters, whatever you want to do.  It's a big desert out there (and Gene was usually right).

Cool Facebook Thread about this.

Early Desert Peach (Peach Pitts) film

At Norwescon, I had food poisoning on this panel. 

Life after the Desert Peach Musical

Tripping The Light Fantastic - a new musical by the authors of The Desert Peach Musical: http://ping.fm/GHQuB

We really learned our lesson on this one. The actors, male and female, can wear their street clothes. Except for the crazy spiritual lady, but the costumer can trot down to the local rummage sale or a couple garage sales and put together a sparkly version of a hippie costume.

The props people can get the furniture from St. Vinnie's and pick up the scrap lumber while they're there.

Any budget can be blown on cool glittery light effects -- and if all you want to do is get a mirror ball and some lasers, you can do that, too.

This one's about the music and the lyrics and the singers. All stuff that's going to sound really good on itunes!

The Desert Peach Webcomic

See the pretty new link over there at the top of the list of extras? Go over there and read all the original Desert Peach pages, as they appear, day by day.

For the Stinz readers: stop whining! Dave says we'll be doing the same thing for YOU, too! So promote this site and we can get to the next one. Yay!

AFTERDEAD 1.3

Putting together AFTERDEAD 1.3.

Here's a sample. The Peach is still trying to Keep Busy and find out who he is in the afterlife.

More Desert Peach and Stinz on WebcomicsNation

It's going to take months to run all the new Desert Peach and Stinz AFTERDEAD strips at Webcomicsnation.

I have a whole new 64-page book to scan, including a lot of color and a night at the roller derby.

I'm getting closer to just putting all the books up at Lulu Going through distributors almost doubles the prices on all books, even more on color books.

Why should retailers and customers pay so much for books when they can just go get it from Lulu? They even have cheap shipping and bulk rates.

Throw pennies at the artist

Remember the two mad musicians in the Pixel short, begging for pennies?

Now YOU can throw pennies at an artist! Head over to the AFTERDEAD page and buy a ProjectWonderful ad.

Advertise your own book. Share your pictures. Or your own blog. Or your LOLkatz. Or just tell everybody how much you love my stuff (you know you do).

All you need to do is build a cool little banner and buy some micro-payments ads.

Our grandmas know how to do that now!

Another Desert Peach Gone

Just sold out -- to the very last copy -- of The Desert Peach #16, "Plight Of The Phoenix."

And that is IT for that issue. I don't know of any other publishers who have it, even in their attics -- we've found all of those. You can check out Prism Comics at regular shows, and see what they've got, but I'm their supplier, and we're all running low.

I'm getting closer all the time on other books, including the early MU press books and even some of the A Fine Line Press books.

Desert Peach #1 and #2 are starting to go for about $20.00. #26, "Miki," is up to $9.00.

So if you actually collect these things, the old issues are going away. Grab the Everything Box at the Little Store (see link in the left column) while some of these things are still on hand.

The Peach and Stinz and Barr Girls on Webcomicsnation

The Webcomicsnation AFTERDEAD series has a RSS feed, and loads a new strip on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It's free! The advertisers on Project Wonderful pay for it.

Peach is still trying to help Stinz get out of breeding for the AfterReich,* even though Stinz is convinced that's the only way he can save his kids from becoming cannon fodder.

(German-speaking readers will get THAT pun).

Even the Barr Girls -- I had a lot of fans for those people -- get a cameo. Those are the leggy Girls in the black:



Finally catching up with the processing of older pages so I can get back to drawing new ones! Once I catch up, things can get rolling again.

Just finished scanning all the color stuff from AFTERDEAD 1.3 - until the big collections go out, or unless MagCloud or ComicXpress work for economical magazine sizes, Webcomicsnation may be the only place you can see full color, except for a few examples on DeviantArt and here.

An Insupportable Light

I just got the hard copy of "An Insupportable Light," and it looks great. The cover's really nice, lined up perfectly, and the internal text and artwork look lovely.

I just proofed and uploaded it. This is the final revision. Now I can go scan the newest Desert Peach and Stinz stories for AFTERDEAD 1.3

Open Office works beautifully with Lulu.com.