Quick Publishing Schedule Update

This week, a New Episode of SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ will be released on Sunday morning, May 24th. It'll be the full Sunday Fun Day main storyline comic strip.

As many of you know if you're following, I had to take a bit of a breather the past two days at my wife Jennifer McCullar's request. I took last Saturday night off and also took all-day Sunday off to spend with Jennifer doing stuff. We went downtown to an art fair and I ended up with all those BEETLE BAILEY books by happenstance as we were browsing a nearby old bookstore.

I'm rested up and all is good. I'm ready to get back to drawing.

At this time, there are no new comic strip episodes planned for the weekdays this week (sorry about that) as I play a little catch up on drawing the big comic strip for Sunday. I'm also finishing up a few side related projects (including SEA SHANTY FUNNIES fan club stuff).

Thank you for understanding.

This week, I plan to resume and finish up the big Sunday Fun Day comic strip (Episode 117) as "Detective Week" reaches its conclusion (more as an epilogue and a launch to the rescue mission). I plan over the next three weeks to probably focus on just the main Sunday storyline to get that Sunday publishing schedule back on track. After I finish everything and if I have "spare time", then I may squeeze a few weekday short gag comic strips as I can.

I am also planning on finishing up the printing of the remainder of the trading cards and stickers for those that purchased the fan club package that have held me up. I plan on getting everything packaged up and out in the mail by the weekend. I had to make a few substitutions on paper cardstock being used for the cards which delayed things.

More updates when I can.

Here is Teaser #1: Next week, I've been asked to do a livestream video chat interview about Popeye, SEA SHANTY FUNNIES, perhaps my work on GREEN ARROW over at DC Comics or my other indie comic book series THRILL SEEKER COMICS, plus my love of comics in general, on Wednesday evening, May 21st. Details are forthcoming in a separate post we'll make.

And Teaser #2: Sometime coming up very soon in June... Jennifer and I are planning a trip to Chester, Illinois to pay our respects to the hometown of E.C. Segar and see the Popeye Museum and see each of the Thimble Theater related statues of Popeye and friends (& foes!) that are sprinkled throughout the riverport town.

We plan on taking some videos, photos, and seeing the sites. It will be my first time ever trip to Chester. We live driving distance (I'm in Springfield, Illinois). I'm really looking forward to the pilgrimage journey and seeing the Popeye sites.

Just letting you know where things stand in my plans for this week if all goes as planned... that is.

Scott

SEASHANTY FUNNIES delay...

 

My wife Jennifer's post and directive from FACEBOOK last night...

Apologies. Today's Sunday Fun Day comic strip has been put on hold and it will need to be rescheduled. I got a late start and began drawing it last night and my wife Jennifer asked that I put a hold on it. She said that she felt I needed to take a break from working in my studio. I guess I bit off more than I can chew this past week with all things and I needed to take care of myself and some matters on the home front. I do appreciate her looking out for me when I sometimes get a little blindsided with things that I lose track and need to take care of myself and others. I appreciate your understanding. 

We'll be back after this break. (But here is a sneak peek of one of the panels of the next comic strip...)

 

Please check back later for an update.

 

Thanks,

Scott and Jennifer 

SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ - Episode 116

 

SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ - Episode 115

 

And that is that... NEXT: The Weekend and Conclusion of Detective Week.

 

SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ - Episode 114

Another dose of "Watching the Detectives" Week Continues...

SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ - Episode 113

"Watching the Detectives" Week Continues... 

If you are just stopping in for the Wednesday comic strip and haven't been here for a few days, please be sure to check out the comic strips from Monday and Tuesday also. I usually don't run comic strips on those first two days of the workweek, but since I missed out on my intended Sunday Fun Day "BIG" comic strip due to family matters, I decided to go ahead and run a special mini-storyline with Castor Oyl all week. 

 

I'm beginning to think this is what Bob Ross would call a "happy accident" because I am really enjoying expanding out a little here with all the detective guest stars making cameo guest appearances in this week long parody. I hope you are, too?

Newest POPEYE Comic Strip Acquisitions

 

Some recent acquisitions of the past week for my personal collection. I'm collecting and archiving old newspaper comic strip clipping of POPEYE that I am collating into portfolios. It is one of my many eclectic hobbies and collections that I do, but if you're here reading SEA SHANTY FUNNIES web comics, you probably understand.

SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ - Episode 112

 

"Watching the Detectives" Week Continues - Move over, Agatha Christie!

SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ - Episode 111

 

It is 'Watching the Detectives Week!"

Let the interviews begin... Every. Day. This. Week.

SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ - Happy Mother's Day

 

 

Happy Mother's Day

 

I'll try to keep this short. Life threw me an unexpected curve ball over the past couple of days with some family matters that I had to be there for and that is what is important. I didn't get a chance to draw the full Sunday Fun Day comic page I had intended to do for today. I'm sorry about that, but I will circle back around to it soon.

 

In the meantime, I whipped this little piece up at 5:30 a.m. this morning featuring Swee'Pea and his own Mom as a quick substitute offering to have something for you as I had about an hour to spare before everyone wakes up in my household.

 

So, Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Moms of the World out there and to all that are reading this. Thank you for all you do and all the love you endlessly give.

SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ - Episode 110

 

Taste test.

SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ - Episode 109

 

The Talk

“I yam what I yam and I think that I yam now embracing that I yam a Cartoonist.”

Today is National Cartoonist Day. I never thought of myself as a cartoonist before. I wrongly associated the term previously with other definitions. However, I write comics. I illustrate comics. I also letter comics. I color comics. I prepare comics for the press to go to printers. I self-publish comics.

Yet working in comics is NOT my full-time profession.

Outside my “day job” as a graphic designer (and previously teaching college art courses as an adjunct faculty member for nearly 20 years) where I make/made my living, working in comics was either (1) part-time paid work or (2) a self-published/self-indulgent side hustle that bordered more on hobby because I've been unable to make any significant income from it over the last 25 years. I did some work for DC Comics in the past. I was also an Art Director at a small press comic book publishing company called Shooting Star Comics, LLC about 20 years ago.  I failed in my side-hustle financially, but creatively I have been proud of my work over the years. I always felt I could have been a contender but just never achieved all the goals I pursued ... but I am still driven to make comics here in my mid-fifties... just as I was driven to do so as a boy, teenager, and young adult in his twenties.

I continue to make comics for the love of it, to entertain others, bring smiles to the world, and to scratch a personal creative itch and express myself.

Let it be known for the first time in my life… today on National Cartoonist Day, I will finally accept and proudly embrace the notion that I am a Cartoonist.

Looking at definitions of CARTOONIST, it reads:

“A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in BOTH drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the literary and graphic components of the work as part of their practice. While every "cartoonist" might be considered a "comics illustrator", "comics artist", or a "comic book artist", not every "comics illustrator", "comics artist", or a "comic book artist" is a "cartoonist".

The role of a cartoonist extends beyond mere illustration. Many cartoonists craft captions, dialogue, or scripts to complement their visuals, balancing text and imagery for maximum impact.

A cartoonist specializes in producing both the artistic and literary components of cartoons or comics, which can be single images or sequential illustrations that tell a story or convey a message. Their work spans comic strips, editorial cartoons, gag cartoons, graphic novels, storyboards, and animated media, often using humor, satire, or exaggeration to engage audiences. Cartoonists may work in newspapers, magazines, books, digital platforms, animation studios, or advertising, making their role versatile and culturally influential.”

And so forth.

So, on this National Cartoonist Day, let me say this:

“I yam what I yam and I think that I yam now embracing that I yam a Cartoonist.”

SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ A Key Moment - Mini-Episode #3

 

From the Archive Journals... (In the Pre-Popeye Days over a century ago)

E.C. Segar debuted THIMBLE THEATRE newspaper comic strip about a decade before he would even introduce Popeye. Olive Oyl dated Harold 'Ham' Gravy and had an on-again-off-again relationship with him where Popeye would later replace her suitor. Olive introduced her (then) boyfriend to her brother in his debut over a century ago on January 14, 1920. 

SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ - Episode 108

 

SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ A Key Moment - Mini-Episode #2

 

In a 1933 storyline, Popeye receives a mysterious rattling crate left for him. (Is it a rattlesnake inside? No, it is Swee'Pea!)