Cartoonyville Books
Besides writing and illustrating his own books (like his latest, The Struggling Cartoonist, linked below), Prof. Mark also helps other authors and independent publishers by promoting their works. Be sure to scroll all the way down, so you can enjoy all the titles featured in Chapter DuRaptor's "Bookshelf Billboard."
The Struggling Cartoonist
If you enjoyed Roger Rabbit and Cool World, consider what would happen with a dash of Inkheart and Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween? In THE STRUGGLING CARTOONIST, cartoon characters burst out of an artist's sketchbook, along with rampaging fantasy illustrations, into a crowded couple's apartment with hazardous results...
While cleaning out his art studio, adjunct animation Prof. Mark Toonery accidentally unleashes a dozen drawings into the real world of his two-bedroom apartment. He and his wife Lisa must suddenly share their living space with rejected drawings from Saturday morning cartoons and comics. Deadbeat Skunk, Sezquatch the Bigfoot, Arsonist Space Squirrels, and even fantasy illustrations like a winged gargoyle and an impossibly huge giant soon crowd the hallway.
Worse yet, not all the characters are entirely friendly...Although mad scientist Dr. Ratnest seems to have turned over a new leaf in the third dimension, his predictably twisted lab assistant, a psychopathic platypus named Daggur Bill, has to be confined to Lisa’s linen closet. When Dr. Ratnest refuses to plot the platypus’ escape, the sabertoothed sidekick decides to take matters into his own diabolical hands.
Now Available!
The first in this Cartoonyville Adventure Trilogy (soon to follow up with The Cartoonyville Halloween Caper) is now available on:
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BookLogix (Direct from the Publisher!)
Client Books
The Moldy Orange Bandage
Prof. Mark's wife (aka Lirio Blanco Show) has written a theatrical playbook for middle school girls and family audiences, which also includes a trio of children's stories such as Terry the Chipmunk. Her book can be ordered here, through BookLogix.
Mocha Girls
Prof. Mark started animating Mocha Girls along with his students from Art Institute Atlanta within an Animation Pre-production Class. Later, Prof. Mark produced a Safety Distance PSA starring the girls and their arch-nemesis, Dr. Grey. Mocha's book, I Love My Mocha Skin, is available here on the Mocha Girl Website.
World of Blinky and Friends
Blinky the Fun-Loving Caterpillar is a character Prof. Mark re-designed for children's author, Bryant Person. Originally from a set of storybooks and read-along DVDs, Prof. Mark streamlined the characters for animation, as well as building puppet versions of Blinky, his two monkey friends D.J. Jody and D.J. Toby, and Kiki the Fox. Prof. Mark also produced a comic book and a coloring activity book, available here on Blinky's website.
And That Started a Fight
Prof. Mark illustrated this book for Atlanta Author Doug Brooks, based on childhood anecdotes. Doug's friends kept telling him, "You've got some great stories! You really need to write all these down, and put them together in a book!" Thankfully, Doug listened. His book is available here, directly from the publisher via BookLogixcom.
PaperBoy: The Dimensional Adventures
Prof. Mark met Mark McCray, the author of The Best Saturdays of Our Lives (a retrospective of the age of "Saturday morning cartoons") at the Atlanta Comic Convention. Prof. Mark animated a Book Trailer of Mark McCray's latest book, about a superhero who loses his super-powers, and must face a dual menace of ghosts AND aliens! You can order Mark McCray's book soon on PaperboyDimensions!
Our Latest Client Projects...
Blinky and the Creaky Shack
Based on Bryant Person's latest work by the same name, Prof. Mark illustrated and edited this "Video Storybook" adaptation of Blinky's new adventure, The Secret of the Creaky Shack!
The Art of Flash Animation: Creative Cartooning
Prof. Mark set out to write the manual not only on Flash Animation that he wished he had to begin with, but also a primer on animation from script to storyboards and layout, from character design to inking, scanning, and/or digitizing your drawings with a WACOM tablet.
Mark even goes in-depth to talk about getting a job in animation! In the last chapter, he interviews animators from Turner Studios' Cartoon Network. They talk about the importance of career networking, figure drawing, favorite Disney animators, and more!
And if all THAT wasn't enough, Mark even has a bunch of Tales from Tangent Man, nice little anecdotes about his own experiences getting started in animation. (For instance, can you believe at age 16, he made his now infamously sarcastic remark: "Animation? That's for children!" Find out why, by reading his book... and better yet, what film changed his mind!) He even includes a personal wish list of great animated films STILL not available on DVD!
Check out the one-minute animated book trailer entitled "Kayden is Different" by Roosevelt Mitchell.
In "Brick by Brick," young Booker T displays his ability to skip stones with not only strength, but "grace and finesse," as he tells his friend Ida B, in this short demo film for Melanin Origins, an independent publisher of children's books.