Breakfast of the Gods

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NOTES: Ahh, we finally visit the big city – the city of Ralston (no brand-name prejudice there, it just sounded right, like “Lake Kellogg” or “Nabisco Flats” sounded right).  Marvel at its many wonders!  Gasp at the artist’s clubfooted grasp of elementary perspective! Yeah, not too proud of how that shot came out, but I [...]

NOTES: Yeah, I like this page a lot.  For one, I just think I enjoyed drawing another character-based conversation scene between my two lead protagonists and, silly as it sounds given premise and backdrop, I liked presenting a glimpse into their psyches.  Death, fear, insecurity, hope and determination – heavy stuff, man. And a bit [...]

NOTES: I liked having the Freakies Tree represent a sort of Boot Hill for Cerealia and now regret that I never returned to it at the end to show how many more graves it would have. In the top panel, one of my earliest George Perez-lite “spot the character” panels, you get your first glimpse [...]

NOTES: The whole layout of this page was an intentional callback to page 5 (go take a look!) from the vision of Crunch in the flame like Buzz Bee in the scrying cereal bowl to the frame around the central characters (lucky charms instead of Celtic spoons and bowls). And here we finally see Lucky [...]

NOTES: I like this page.  Anytime I can take a beat and let the emotional impact of some dramatic plot point sink in, I’m all for it.  And this is my favorite drawing of the Cap’n I did for the whole series.  Even with what looks like the aftermath of a Gallagher performance behind him, [...]

NOTES: Chocula the master manipulator!  Not much to note on this page other than Brunnhilde proving, yet again, to be tougher than her fellow crewman Alfie.  Oh, and I’m fond of the mirrored forms in the last two panels: Ayummayumma’s hand and the cup, the king’s slumping body and Crunch’s posture. 

NOTES: Here’s a page I’m particularly proud of.  Throughout the series I would set little artistic challenges for myself.  One thing in comics art you don’t often see is a 12 panel page (unless you’re Chris Ware and routinely offer up 36 panel pages).  Obviously the panels are so small by this point that the [...]

NOTES: A big arrival for the Crunchberry Beast or (“C.B.” as his friends call him).  I always loved the character (Quaker’s Crunchberries cereal) but knew from the get-go that he would be a tool of Chocula’s plot.  He’s an innocent yet feral beast and he was destined to go down violently.  The trick in drawing him [...]

NOTES: Ayummayumma’s wicker throne atop the cage of the Crunchberry Beast was a fun idea and fun to draw as was Ayummayumma himself.  All credit for turning me on to the existence of Fruit Islands cereal goes to my art school buddies Greg Lovinski and Jason McDonald.  I had never heard of the cereal (was [...]

NOTES: Look at me trying some dynamic page layout!  And wee Carlyle gets it from a giant strawberry – what a delicious, delicious way to go.  Though there’s some hardcore violence on this page, I was always happy to present the Cap’n as a total badass.  Part of the “success” of BOTG is the marriage [...]

NOTES: Not a lot to say about this page other than enjoy the one small appearance of poor Carlyle in the 5th panel.  Oh, and I’m rather proud of creating the “spoonapult.”

NOTES: Hee Hee, if it’s not clear, is actually that character’s name.  He’s the right-hand man to King Ayummayumma. I enjoyed drawing the bottom panel as it was the first full-on “action” panel in the book.  I purposefully inked the main figures of Crunch and Tony in a heightened, detailed mainstream comics manner as if [...]

NOTES: Okay, one of the big ones.  This spread exists for a few reasons.  One: a preamble to the conflict to come on the next page.  Two: it’s an exposition dump where I can elaborate on Cerealia’s complicated history for the first time; I really wanted to shade Cap’n Crunch as a character a bit [...]

NOTES: This page features one of my biggest blunders, character-wise, and one that I was forced to perpetuate through the rest of the series.  I knew Seadog was Crunch’s first mate, I vaguely remembered him from the commercials of the ’70s, but I seem to have forgotten one of his main traits: he doesn’t talk. [...]

NOTES: The first appearance of “The Big Two:” Cap’n Crunch (Quaker’s Cap’n Crunch cereal) and Tony the Tiger (Kelloggs’ Frosted Flakes).  I’ll make no bones about it – these two characters (as well as their respective cereals) are my favorites of the whole bunch.  Plus their stature as long-standing, extremely popular mascots made them naturals [...]

CAP’N CRUNCH The most noble of men and an inspiration to all Horatio Magellan Crunch, born and raised on Crunch Island long ago, has discovered many wonderful treasures in his years on the Milk Seas. One such treasure was the Fountain of Youth which, along with a diet rich in the elusive mineral Crunchium, has [...]

This is where it all begins, gentle readers.  Enjoy! NOTES: I had the titles and basic design for all three covers from very early on.  ”The Last Good Morning” was my attempt at homage/send-up of all the great, bleak noir classics like “The Long Goodbye.” Most catch the recurring visual motif on the covers of [...]