Quacktown + ZombieToons MUST DIE! - Page 5 (AM Guest Strip)

And now the conclusion of the of the five-part guest/crossover strip with "ZombieToons MUST Die!" by Aaron Mocksing.

• Aaron had originally wanted this to be a fan-comic for "Quacktown", which explains why this was short and ends on a cliffhanger. We're both hoping that this will pique some interest to continue the story.  
• Aaron told me on dA that he wanted to make this crossover more of a moody, disquieting mysterious sort of piece, and that he wanted to revisit Lenny and Miko while "Keeping Up with Thursday" took off. 
• Hey, look! Quacklad's fold-out crossbow pistol made another appearance (it's his favorite weapon and we will be seeing it again).
• I like how nonchalant Lenny is talking to Tyrra. It always annoyed me in some movies and cartoons where people would flip the frak out at a talking dog. Seems like kids tend to have the most realistic reaction; they think it's the coolest thing ever. Based on what Lenny's used to, it's no different from the anthropomorphic toon characters he interacts with.
• Too bad that the Z Warriors and Justice League left; that would've been interesting to see: them teaming up and fighting zombie cartoon characters. Oh, well- we can still dream, can't we?
• "Heh...there goes my faith in superheroes."- I find that funny because when Quacklad was first being developed in high school, I had him in mind as a superhero's-sidekick-turned-detective character, sort of like something out of Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming's series, "Powers", and before that, the comic was a "Skyrim"-type fantasy story. A horror comedy/dark fantasy just seemed like the more fun/easier way to go.
• Zombie Sentry- another nod to the "Marvel Zombies" series (you're making me want to check out that series more and more, Aaron).

Thanks again for taking up my offer on doing a guest-strip and whipping up this five-part coolness, Aaron. One day, we've got to continue this, but for now, it's a pretty good hook for potential. I'll return the favor of a guest strip real soon, good buddy!

Later, guys! When we come back, I'm goin' back to writing/drawing duties, plus maybe some more guest comics. Take it easy; I'm out like a boozehound at closing time.

Quacktown + ZombieToons MUST DIE! - Page 4 (AM Guest Strip)

And we're back with Page 4 of the five-part guest/crossover strip with "ZombieToons MUST Die!" by Aaron Mocksing. Here we we get our grand (and by that I mean, "epic-as-holy-heck") entrance of Lenny Pools and Miko Duck in the Ecto-1 of "Ghostbusters"-fame.

• Aaron, on dA, said that if a zombie apocalypse ever happened, he'd go to Universal Studios and nab either the Ecto-1 or the Bluesmobile from "The Blues Brothers" (1980) (smart choices, yo!).
• Also on dA, Aaron said that his vectors of the Ecto-1 were so good, that somebody asked if they could use them for something "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" related with Ghostbusters (way to go, Aaron!). Those vectors really did turn out nicely- I can't draw a car to save Alderaan's population. I've been trying to practice, though, but not much progress has been made.
• Looking at the remains of the Rangers' HQ and the Ranger Plane make me think of a dark outcome for Zipper, the weird green housefly with a dog's face/Monterey Jack's sidekick (he probably hanged himself to escape a grisly death like Monty's). Aaron, through dA, later told me that Chip gave him to Dale to eat, but the little guy just wasn't enough to satisfy his zombie cravings (he's probably a light appetizer compared to a heaping helping like Monty).
• Tyrra's smug smile on the third panel is too adorable for words.
• "You've got red on you."- as a big fan of "Shaun of the Dead", that made me smile a lot, even more so that Aaron had Tyrra quoting it (thanks and kudos, dude!).
• You'd think Quacklad would invest in getting some custom-made sandals to prevent unwanted blood splatter and rough terrain, but I like to think his webbed feet have the incredible durability of a hobbit's.
• Not sure why, but I thought Quacklad looked kinda like Darkwing Duck on the fifth panel, but in a cool way.
• To satify the curiosities of fans who were wondering why the Ecto-1 survived, yet Gadget Hackwrench didn't, Aaron stated that while everybody was watching the "Rescue Rangers" cartoon at the time, he was watching "The Real Ghostbusters" show as it was wrapping up on ABC ("I preferred the cooler programming."). I watched both, but again, only watched "Rescue Rangers" 'cause I had a crush on Gadget (haters, kindly take it to the left and keep it there, thank you). 
• I have yet to see any of "The Expendables" movies, yet have heard nothing but kick-ass things about them.
• While we're on the subject of anthro girl cuties, Miko's pretty hot for a duck- just don't get any ideas about shipping her with Quacklad (he's in the mindset of, "No time for love, Dr. Jones", when it comes to romance).

 To be concluded with Page 5 tomorrow!

Quacktown + ZombieToons MUST DIE! - Page 3 (AM Guest Strip)

Page 3 of the five-part guest/crossover strip with "ZombieToons MUST Die!" by Aaron Mocksing is here! Looks like we got some butt-whupping on this page.

• Tyrra's husky senses are tingling! Aaron did a great job on the first two panels, focusing on the Hyper Husky's keen scent and hearing.
• "Nostalgic decay"- "Your childhood is dead", indeed.
• "Hrrm.."- Quacklad doing his best Rorschach impression. Funny, considering that character had some influence on the Duck's creation.
• I like how in the fifth panel we, as a reading audience, don't get a full view of Quacklad's face- very mysterious. For all we know it's probably a look of glee at getting the chance of killing something that's already dead (Quacklad lets his hate motivate).
• Hmm, Tom and Jerry would be a tough zombie duo to fight, but at least they didn't run into Itchy and Scratchy, then they'd be screwed big time.
• Poor Gadget. Aaron mentioned that she could go on to have a Reed Richards-style role, like in the "Marvel Zombies" series, but after considering Quacklad's punt, doubted if there was anything left of her. If so, consider it an accidental mercy killing on the Duck's part.
• Looking back at some of those old cartoons where Chip 'n Dale made Donald Duck's life a living hell, you could say that this is karma's way of biting them back in their little striped butts.
• "SPLRURRRKK!!!"- such a nasty-but-cool sound effect.

What happens next? To be continued with Page 4...!

Quacktown + ZombieToons MUST DIE! - Page 2 (AM Guest Strip)

Here's Page 2 of the five-part guest/crossover strip with "ZombieToons MUST Die!" by Aaron Mocksing.

• Yeah, "Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers". Aaron did mention that the tagline for ZTMD is "Your childhood is dead." 'Nuff said!
• In the vein of "Marvel Zombies", Aaron made the right choice of not sugarcoating the obvious outcome of Gadget here (still, poor girl; she was my favorite character on the show). I was more of a "DuckTales"/"Darkwing Duck"/"Gargoyles" fan, but she was pretty much my only reason to watch "Rescue Rangers" (yes, it was a cartoon crush- your jokes 'bout it are invalid).
• Aaron did a great job designing the zombified Chip 'n Dale- those blank, lifeless eyes really sell it, along with the gory deterioration and flies.
• After Aaron had e-mailed me this page, I got honestly got weirded out reading Chip 'n Dale's scenes and imagining their lines in the "Rescue Rangers" voices- but that's how effective horror-comedy can be: scary but fun. Picturing Tress MacNeille, Chip's voice-actress on the show, say the line, "...Get back up there and finish off Monty, you dumbshit..." in that sped-up/high-pitched voice is hilarious.
• The fifth panel where Quacklad and Tyrra come into the story has a cool Spaghetti Western entrance: shadowy silhouettes and something blowing in the wind (a piece of paper instead of your run-of-the-mill tumbleweed).
• Quacklad more worried about running out of his "coffin nails" than the post-apocalyptic surroundings and Tyrra zinging him is true to the characters. Aaron was a bit worried that they looked off model, but they look fine to me, just as long as they act like...well, how they act.

 And we'll return with Page 3 tomorrow- later!

Quacktown + ZombieToons MUST DIE! - Page 1 (AM Guest Strip)

And we rise from the grave (quite literally, regarding the context) after "Shark Week" with a special five-part crossover guest strip!

The mad genius culprit behind this is Aaron Mocksing, creator of "Keeping Up With Thursday". He took up my offer for a guest strip spot, and he whipped up five pages of monster-mashing-in-Toontown-goodness. In a nutshell, it's a crossover between "Quacktown" and another neato webcomic of his, "ZombieToons MUST DIE!" with the protagonists, Lenny Pools and Miko Duck, teaming up with Quacklad and Tyrra against a threat that can be described as "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" meets "Dawn of the Dead" with a dash of "Marvel Zombies". 

Here's a list of the zombified toons Aaron featured on this page:

• Miranda Wright ("Bonkers")
• Longarm ("C.O.P.S.")
• Bonkers D. Bobcat ("Bonkers")
• Koko the Clown (Max Fleischer)
• Cleo ("The Catillac Cats")
• Jessica Rabbit ("Who Framed Roger Rabbit")

• Since Aaron works primarily with Flash for his art, I helped him out with adding our logos together using GIMP. He wrote and drew all four pages while I served as a "creative consultant" for Quacklad and Tyrra.
• His zombified take on the toon victims is a legitimate mix of creepy and cool. The zombie Koko the Clown and Bonkers were the best, and I liked seeing the Dour Duck and Hyper Husky in his style.

Stick around for Page 2 tomorrow, folks!

Case #1890: "Finger-Lickin' Good"

For tonight's strip, here's something a little different I wanna try: a cryptid moment in Walpurgis' history.

•  "Case #1890"- a little nod towards the year in which two cowboys in Arizona claimed to have killed a creature that matched the description of a pterodactyl. The idea in the story that they had taken the creature's body back home and sent in a photo to their local newspaper served some inspiration here, too.
• "a bird as big as a battleship"- if you ever seen or heard of the movie, "The Giant Claw" (1957), you'll get the joke. Coleman's first name, "Mitch", is a nod to Jeff Morrow's character in the movie.
• Coleman's last name pays tribute to Loren Coleman, a Bigfoot researcher and cryptozoology author who wrote about a series of thunderbird sightings in the 1940s.
• Another reference to the Rowling Woods. We'll definitely continue to hear and see more of this strange place; it's chock full of spooky activity.
• The roc of Arabic/Persian mythology and the thunderbird of Native American folklore are both giant birds of prey, so one could assume that despite differences in their habitats, they share a common ancestor or species.
• Garudas tonitrus - the faux Latin name for a thunderbird. The genus, "Garudas", refers to Garuda, a giant bird-like creature from Hindu and Buddhist mythology, and the species, "tonitrus", is actually a Latin word meaning, "thunder".  
• "Donut" was the name of a mutt we owned when I was a kid. The comic Donut here wasn't based on the appearance of the real Donut- only in name. The real Donut looked more like a scrawny mix between an Old English Sheepdog and a Pointer (I can't remember). A pretty generic design was given to this dog here (those eyes).
• Don't even begin to ask where a thunderbird, as big as they've been made out to be in folklore and eyewitness accounts, would stay in the Rowling Woods- I'm not even sure if the storytellers and the people who claimed to have seen one knew either. Let's just say this one had been on migration from Alaska or Canada for a change of scenery, and it happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
• Trucks- and lots of them. That's how they got that thing to Coleman's house- 'nuff said!
• At first, I hated the idea of altering the original drawing to make it look like an old photo, but for authenticity purposes to the time, it had to be done. Glancing at it a second time, I'm starting to like the sepia tone of it.
• Oh, GIMP- I've only begun to discover your full potential. Keep doin' your thing, baby.
• There's only so much barbeque sauce can do, folks, and it certainly can't make thunderbird meat taste any better.