Nat Norkin Comic Book

THIS is the character - this unfunny creature of BOREDOMination - that managed to kill off any and all artistic collaboration that may have once existed between my cartooning buddy in England (Jonny D.) and myself. We've never worked together again on any cartoon projects since this featherweight Nat Norkin comic book stole our souls during the waning years of the 1980s. A convoluted, meandering storyline that forced us to struggle in vain (in separate countries) trying to breathe life into the dry-as-dust adventures of a plain-faced whozit with a bland personality. (Mostly an invention of MY overtaxed peabrain I'm sorry to admit.)


Each of us would take sole ownership of the character for months at a time, free to push the flow of events off into any direction we fancied - without consultation with the other artist. As you might imagine, this made for many a disorienting moment for the poor reader. Upon completion of a new 4 or 5 page comic chapter, artist 'A' would then post his addition to the ever-ballooning tale back across the Atlantic (in the days before the internet) to the unsuspecting artist 'B' who would often be left baffled by the new plot twists (usually stupid to the max) that 'A' had introduced since 'B' last saw it.

We probably thought it would make for a snazzier production - having the two-headed author approach. A combined (yet NOT combined) double storytelling gimmick we might be proud of. Who can remember. But when I recently came across the two published issues of Nat Norkin in a previously stuck/tight drawer (yes - TWO stories were released!) I felt the same wave of stress that would always seep into the room after receiving Jon's latest chapter update in the mailbox. It meant I would then have to reacquaint myself anew with the unsatisfying 'Nat world' that I thought I'd left far behind me by shipping him off to Jonny in England the month before.


The drawing of the dog in the first edition issue was unfortunate. Drawing dogs has always been a difficult game for me. I tried to clean him up for the second printing, which understandably had a much lower press run, so I include the updated dog cartoon here for those who unwisely ordered their copies early and were stuck with the sloppily drawn one.

And no, there are zero plans on the table to resurrect the Norkin franchise for further comic exploits at this point in time. However, a full-length animated movie of the character is being 'fast tracked' for a summer release. (I kid. I'm kidding.)

A lucky fan with her souvenir Norkin comic.

Interesting guitar work...

Amazing Guitarist
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Our Man Hammer

And now this personal news item that may be of minor interest to some of the oldtimers that remember Tupper & the golden 70s.

I bumped into Mr. Hammer not too long ago. Surely you remember Mr. Hammer? High school art teacher extraordinaire. Dedicated follower of Albers Colour Theory. Also the main character in a 50-page cartoon book I did for the school board back in grade 11. A series of silly drawings poking fun at his enthusiastic over-the-top teaching style. Only a few of those tattered books survive from the 600 they ran off, but every now & then, I'll find one hiding in a closet or an old storage box. A time capsule of my teenage school years.

I was not a good student for the poor man. I didn't participate in any of his assigned projects. Box-looms, sculptures, stitcheries, modulars, rug weaving, batiks. Nope. Didn't light my fire. My only interest was cartooning and I think it drove him nuts trying to convert me over to 'real art'.

Until one day (and I remember it clearly) he just suddenly gave up on me, and from that point forward I was allowed absolute freedom to pump out any and all the cartoon scribbling I wanted. If he was trying reverse psychology, it wasn't going to work - I was spending each hour in his classroom pushing a black felt pen across paper. Oddly enough, it was Mr. Hammer himself that spearheaded the idea of collecting all those one-panel cartoons I was doing of him, into a full booklet for distribution to schools across Canada.

I'm not sure if I ever really got around to thanking him at the time for giving me that 'published author' experience, but it was certainly one of the first things I mentioned when we finally crossed paths again recently at the local community center pottery shed. (That; and how I never really bought into the whole Albers Colour Theory from the git go.)

So we had a nice stroll down memory lane. I suppose this could be considered one of those 'closure' moments we all seem to come across now & then during the second half of our lives. Saluting a certain part of the past one final time, and all that rot. I gotta admit, after a while, it began to feel like an old episode of the Twilight Zone; as if what SHOULD have been just a short weekend away from school had somehow twisted itself into more than a 30 year stretch. So, wot the heck; I split. No use hangin around.