Monday, April 26, 2010

Chris MeaD and Harrison Ambs " Distilled Reality"

They're young and they've got something to say about life...

Chris MeaD and Harrison Ambs


Hi, I'm Harrison. I'm one of the guys on Distilled Reality
(the one with the bitchin' goatee)

-Harrison, No one thinks your goatee is bitchin'.

That's Mead. And I think my goatee is bitchin, so obviously
SOMEBODY does. Therefore your argument is invalid.

-You're invalid. And you don't count, because it's YOUR goatee.
Remember when I drew racing stripes on my shoes because
 I said they would let me run faster?
You told me that my opinion doesn't matter,
 because physics said it couldn't happen. This is the same thing.

Not really. Physics doesn't decide the bitchin'ness of goatees.
Besides, racing stripes don't make things go faster.

-Then why are they on race cars?

Because it looks better on camera, I think.

-Then why do people go to the track,
if the cars look better on camera?

Probably for the same reason that a concert is always better
 than listening to music on a CD in your house.

-Then why don't people do what we did a few years ago
 and trick a band into playing at their party?

Yeah, I can't believe they fell for that.
Or that you were able to make a neon sign
 and turn your place into a bar that quickly.

-You'd figure the fact that it was in an apartment complex
would have given it away, but go figure.
Oh, remember how you got drunk and broke the drum set?

I didn't break it. Don't listen to him.

-Okay fine. Remember how you got drunk and
creatively disassembled the drum set? That was awesome.
 I have pictures of it on my flickr. They were so pissed at you.

Not as pissed as they were at you for not paying them.

-I offered to design their t-shirts! And I gave them like, two drinks.

You gave them two drinks total, not each.
Even I thought that was a dick move.

-Heh, you said 'dick move'.

I think we're supposed to be talking about the comic.

-Nice transition.

Like I was saying, I'm Harrison.

-And I'm MeaD.

Why do you do that?

-Do what?

Capitalize the last letter of your name like that?

-I have no idea what you're talking about.

Anyway, I'm Harrison, that's Mead-

-MeaD

What's the difference?

-The difference in what?

The letter...nevermind. Anyway, we're graphic designers in
Cleveland, Ohio, and we work for an advertising....
seriously, do you pronounce it differently or something?

-What? How can you not tell? You're in the room with me.

But this is text.

-Then how are we talking?

....

-....

What was that? How did those dots get there?

-I don't know, man. I just say we bail and get out of here.

Done.

-----------

Distilled Reality is the story of two post-graduate twenty-something
 graphic artists struggling to keep their independence and
 wonder in a world of conformity.
Some(often)times this gets them into more trouble than it should.

The structure of the comic is divided up between long stretches of
 storylines with the garnish of a few one-off comics here and there.
 We've structured the site and built the updates in such a way
that if you come into a story mid-steam, there's a link available
that will take you right back to the first comic in the series.
This way you're not confused and can easily find your place.

The topics are very much grounded in the real life experiences of
 Harrison and Mead. Now, we've taken certain liberties with it,
but for the most part the central theme is something
that's actually happened with us.
The characters reflect ourselves to a small extent,
but we've tweaked them to nearly the breaking point,
and they've taken on a life of their own.
We kept the style black and white because it focused
 more on the lines and less on the bright colors.
Besides, we deal with color all day, it's nice to have a break.




Distilled Reality can be found on Twitter, Facebook
and distilledreality.meadsblog.com

CCU can't decide who got the better of that banter...
but it was fun to watch you guys go at it.
Distilled Reality is just as fun to read...and we will.

We look forward to posting more of your wit
and your strips very soon.
Fight it out, and will the last man standing please
send us more artwork!


Monday, April 12, 2010

Ryan Pagelow's "buni"


APRIL EVENT
PART TWO

Ryan Pagelow

Ryan Pagelow has drawn comics for most of his life.
His work appears in Mad Magazine, newspapers, and online.
He was one of the 10 finalists in the
Comic Strip Superstar Contest hosted by Amazon.com
and also earned the
Charles Schulz National College Cartoonist Award.

When he is not working as a photojournalist,
Ryan draws the comic strips Pressed and Buni.
Raised in Madison, Wisconsin, he worked in Italy and Argentina
before ending up in Chicago where he now lives.
ALL IMAGES CLICK LARGER


Buni is a dark comedy revolving around
a hopelessly optimistic loser bunny named Buni.
The girl he loves doesn’t love him back.
His boss doesn’t respect him,
 and he usually fails at whatever he tries.
 However, he remains unfazed and excited about life
with his endearing snaggle-toothed grin.




Buni was selected as one of 10 finalists in the






I created this comic strip when I heard about the contest because
 I couldn’t submit previously published comics.
I had only three weeks until the deadline. I needed something quick
and this strip has been in the back of my mind for a long time.
 I have always wanted to do a tragic depressing comic
drawn in a Hello Kitty happy-dappy-doo style. Buni was the result.


I wanted to incite a different kind of laugh
than those normally found on the funny pages.
Less of a ha ha laugh, and more of a “poor guy” laugh,
 if that makes any sense. You just feel bad for the guy.


It’s my first comic that only appears online
and not in any newspapers
 so it feels like I have more freedom to draw the comics
 any way I want,
 though I usually stick to standard daily and Sunday comics sizes,
 just in case. I’m also working in color,
which I normally don’t get a chance to do too often.


I just do what I think is funny.
 There has to be a few more people on the planet
 that have a similar sense of humor.
 Unless, of course, I’m completely insane.

To view more "buni" comic strips visit http://bunicomic.com/.

You are not insane. Well, not completely.
 "Buni" is funi. Watching that fuzzy little guy come back for more
again and again reminds us all to keep plugging away at life.

CCU is rooting for Buni. This strip is already a hit and
we are proud to help bring it to the masses. 
We want to see him win, we do...just not yet.
Thanks Ryan. We'll talk again.


Monday, April 5, 2010

Ryan Pagelow's "Pressed"


APRIL EVENT
PART ONE

Ryan Pagelow

Ryan Pagelow has drawn comics for most of his life.
 His work appears in Mad Magazine, newspapers, and online.
 He was one of the 10 finalists in the
 Comic Strip Superstar Contest hosted by Amazon.com
and also earned the
Charles Schulz National College Cartoonist Award.

When he is not working as a photojournalist,
 Ryan draws the comic strips Pressed and Buni.
 Raised in Madison, Wisconsin, he worked in Italy and Argentina
 before ending up in Chicago where he now lives.
ALL IMAGES CLICK LARGER


Pressed is a comic strip for people who love newspapers.



Depicting the people behind the news, Pressed shows a reporter
and local politician butting heads,
 a sportswriter trying to be supportive of the local team as
it loses season after season, a photographer trying to get his shot
 while camera hungry people poke their heads in
 to try to get “on TV” and a frequent letter-to-the-editor writer
 venturing out into the blogosphere.





Pressed also offers a comedic look at the
 wider media landscape of 24-hour news cycles,
 Internet “news” and blowhard punditry, as well as the everyday
office politics of adults confined to shared cubicles.




Started in October 2008, Pressed has run daily in the
Lake County News-Sun in Illinois, online and in
 university papers in Madison and Milwaukee.




To view more Pressed comic strips visit http://www.ryanpagelow.com/.

"Pressed" is a top-notch strip,
but that didn't stop Ryan from going that extra mile
to produce more outstanding fun. 
CCU is proud to bring him back for a second week.
(That's a CCU first)
Monday, April 12th 
You'll meet the one and only 
"Buni"


Don't miss Part Two.

 
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