Chibi Deathstaru! • 6 June 2006

Okay, so I didn't draw this in traditional anime style, but the concept is the same. Really quickly, chibi is a method of depicting characters in a diminutive, exaggerated, childlike way, while kawaii essentially means "cuteness." So what we have here is a cute, baby Death Star, presented by a just as chibi Vader.

I drew this in Big Boy while everyone else was playing Magic, because I'm not sharp enough to know how to play the game.

CEV vs Apollo • 21 June 2006

I'm mildly disappointed in the direction that NASA is going with the next generation of spacecraft. Rather than continuing along the plane/glider lines of the current space shuttle, NASA is reverting back to a design very much like the Apollo project of the 1960s. You know, the ones that went to the moon.

The Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) is expected to enter service around 2010, following the retirement of the space shuttle program. The entire program is called Project Constellation, and the new launch vehicles being developed are the Ares rockets. Ares is developed from parts of the space shuttle launch system, specifically the solid rocket booster and external tank concepts.

I drew this during the Great Toledo Thunderstorm of 2006.

No Rain Play • 3 July 2006

I really like running around out in the rain but don't have anybody to do it with. As you might imagine, it was raining when I drew this and was feeling a little down about it.

STS-121 • 4 July 2006

The space shuttle Discovery launched on mission STS-121 on Independence Day, the first shuttle launch on that date. I followed the launch and activities of the day, drawing this that evening. Depicted are the shuttle launching and the STS-121 mission patch, the International Space Station which was Discovery's destination, and the seven person crew of the shuttle: Commander Steve Lindsay, Pilot Mark Kelly, and Mission Specialists Mike Fossum, Lisa Nowak, Piers Sellers, Stephanie Wilson, and Thomas Reiter. Reiter will remain behind on the station, returning it to a three-person crew for the first time since May 2003.

Crew Transfer Vehicle • 5 July 2006

As for my own space station, Lederhosen 8, I needed a vehicle to transport crews to and from the station. Based on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, this first pass on the CTV includes a flexible collar around the airlock, which is designed to plug into Lederhosen's angled hatchway.

This will probably need a little further revision.

Stalin's Easier to Draw • 6 July 2006

This is probably out of context because you're not currently seeing the picture drawn just before it. That picture involves Khrushchev beating up on Jeff and will be in the next issue of Poor, Poor Jeff, which should update in due time. I spent so much time drawing mecha-Khrushchev (from Ian in Communism Land) that I wanted to contrast it with the ease of Stalin.

The Red Dragon • 6 July 2006

Speaking of Khrushchev, here's a non-mechanical depiction of him. We were playing Dungeons and Dragons again when Jeff pitted us against a red dragon. Ian and I thought of this as a metaphor in the truest McCarthyist sense and resulted in this portrayal.

The great red dragon Khrushchev launches Sputnik from his flames while preventing the western powers from making their way into space first.

Stalin: Spider Fit • 6 July 2006

I did this while the others were fussing over Magic cards. I've always thought that Stalin would have a couple sets of bodies that he could trade out for different purposes. I haven't depicted him as such in the official canon, but I've done a few concepts over the years. This spider fit might be useful in ways that his normal body isn't, though it should probably be a little bigger.

A Mao a Day • 7 July 2006

Ian and I had the idea of illustrating Mao Tse-Tung's little red book. Ripping of the idea of this very site, A Mao a Day would depict the quotations from the chairman. This particular drawing shows that "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." Stalin-flower sprouts from one barrel while airplanes, tanks, submarines, bombs, and iron fists spew from the other barrel.

I can barely keep up with a pic a day, much less a Mao a day.

Ian in Pimp Land • 7 July 2006

Jeff&Erin threw a party, and Ian and Kim came! She wanted something to color so I drew a picture of Ian and his trusty Commie Stick. She decked him out in stylish threads armed with a Pimp Stick, with what may be Erin's hair.

I may be making a coloring book sometime soon.

Kim • 7 July 2006

Speaking of Kim, this is my depiction of her from the party.

Why, oh why did she have to wear sandals? We all know I can't draw feet to save my life.

Brilliant Plans • 8 July 2006

At Carey's graduation party, Phil and I brainstormed over all manner of vehicles that we needed to build. Mostly these involved combining hovercrafts, helicopters, and tanks in various combinations.

At top left is a hovercraft that runs atop an air cushion and powered by a jet engine salvaged from a Boeing 747. It may be a little large. To its left is a more practical craft, based on air boats used in swamps and bayous employing a giant fan in its tail. An aerosan would work just peachy.

What is the logical progression from a lawnmower engine to a car engine? It is not a motorcycle engine. The sensible in-between is obviously a riding lawnmower engine.

The middle napkin represents an idea to convert a car into a tank, with four different sets of treads, though maybe a half-track is a better idea. This led to the bottom left, where the car body is elevated above two sets of treads and helicopter rotors attached. This is similar in concept to the classic helidozer idea, which makes a cameo here as well. The weight of the treads would necessitate having two pairs, one left at home and one at your destination. You fly from one tread to another, depicted lower right, and then drive to places where it's inconvenient to fly.

These were drawn using a three-hundred dollar pen.