New Dank and Grickle?! Annable? What?!

TelltaleGames

I've experienced it so often these days. Standing at a bus stop or sitting in a board meeting, I'll overhear it time and time again.





"Gosh, Sam and Max is astounding isn't it?"





"Dude, my sleepless nights for the last 15 years are finally over."





"I know it. Although Telltale's done such an impressive job I'm crying tears of joy constantly and it's really begun to affect my driving. Taking the bus to work again today."





"Dude, sorry to hear that. But, oh man, that game! That company!"





"Can't wait for Ep 2. I just hope I can see it through the tears."




"Dude."



Then there'll be a long pause. Sometimes uncomfortable. Sometimes not. On occasion it's actually been quite pleasant and prolonged. Then inevitably I hear it.[readmore]



"One thing that's weird though. Despite the unbelievably good track Telltale's been on."



"What, dude?"



"Well, like, what happened to Graham Annable? I mean is he still there or what?"



"Dude, yeah, that Annable guy. What's he been up to anyway? There hasn't been a new Dank strip in, like, a century or something."



At that point a slow, knowing, smile will creep across my face as I shake my head lightly, careful not to reveal my hiding spot in the nearby shrubbery. My God, if only they knew. If only they knew.



Well, for all of those not in the know, I've actually relocated to the Pacific NorthWest this past year. Portland, Oregon, to be exact. Yep, it's true. I brazenly traded in the manicured, golden, hills of California for the jaggedy, wet, treelines of Oregon. Since making the move I've been doodling out storyboards for a feature film, freelancing SpongeBob comics for Nickelodeon, creating comic stories for the Flight 4 and Tugboat Press's Papercutter anthologies, generating animated shorts of my own, and continued to contribute Telltale animation and illustration pieces on a semi-irregular basis. It's been a rather busy year to say the least! In the wake of that mish-mashy mountain of work certain things have fallen to the wayside. More specifically, Dank has fallen to the wayside. Maybe some folks noticed and maybe some didn't, but my apologies to all who've been wondering what's been up with the strip. That poor fella and Gok have been left hanging for quite some time. I'm pleased to announce that Dank is back and the world can hopefully resume turning again.



Besides the fresh new Dank strip you may have noticed an addition to Telltale's Store today. The graphic novels "Further Grickle" and "Stickleback" are now available for purchase under Printed Things!

If you're scratching your head wondering "Huh? Weird...what's that all about?" Further Grickle and Stickleback are two books I created outside of the magical offices of Telltale. Within their pages you'll find stories that have been described as "life and death with googly eyes," "tales of amusing woe" and "melancholic to hilarious." It's kinda like a mixture of happy and sad. And strange. Maybe a pinch of David Lynch thrown in there too. Maybe? Jeez, I'm not entirely certain. Here, have a read at what other folks have been saying, they can articulate it better I think:




"Annable draws characters in a drastically simplified, cartoony style with bug eyes and big noses, occasionally reducing arms and legs to sticks. But his animation experience reveals itself in the body language and movement of these black and white doodles. "Decency" has an obstinate frog taking blow after blow from a couple of rock-throwing jerks. Annable focuses on the frog for wincing effect each time a rock connects. But it's a Simpsons-like frog, laughably goofy-looking and stupid. The mix typifies the comedic irony of the whole book." -TIME.com



"Annable's writing is funny and well-paced, and his art fits this story(Stickleback.) Even the simple style - six same-size panels per page - goes against today's comic-book norm, but it, too, fits the presentation." -Comics Buyer's Guide




"Annable's illustration style, more in tune with animation or gag-cartooning than with traditional comics art, has a pliability that allows the stories it carries to veer from wild exaggeration to understated pathos at the whim of the artist. There's a lot of range on display here, and, one suspects, plenty of room for more Grickle down the road. Here's hoping, anyway." -The Comics Journal



"Stickleback is a quirky meeting of influences with its protagonist, George Stickleback, seeming to live, figuratively speaking, about two doors down from Harvey Pekar's autobiographical avatar American Spendor and one block over from The Twilight Zone. Stickleback is a mix of the kind of ultra-real, slice of life mundaneness favored by many independent comics creators, while also flirting with a weirdly amusing surrealism." -UGO (UnderGroundOnline)



"When animators have learned the trade and then take their knowledge to comics, it shows. For instance, most of Annable's panel-to-panel transitions are drawn so, in my opinion, that they suggest animation. And when the cartoonist manages to pull that off, you know he's doing something right." -TheComicStore.com



Along with the comic work I've also been tinkering with some animated shorts. Created with iMovie and just using the standard sound effects in its library I've been pleasantly surprised by the results. I believe Apple created iMovie primarily for people to dress up their family vacation photos with a little sound and music, right? Well, man, I'd sure like to see the family trip that used the same sounds I selected from the iMovie library. Here's a little taste:

And there you have it folks! The world can breathe a collective sigh of relief while they patiently wait for the next installment of Sam and Max. People on the street no longer have to wonder and worry about what happened to that Annable guy. I'm safe and sound, enjoying life in Portland, and continuing to support Telltale.



"Dude, I feel so much better."



"Yeah, except those cartoons are kinda freaking me out."



"Dude, totally."