WTF??

Hey, this is Spank. Underground legend, Comix folkhero, Pissy American made money, and an in-your-face all around angry dude!

Those of you who know all about me can skip the next -- paragraphs- those that have yet to know me here's my "cred": I was created in the throes of a stagnate comic book convention in Philly, somewhere in the mid nineties. CFD's editor Pamela Hazelton was across the small "artist alley" room from, my creator and the CFD group got to talking about some of our favorite "underground" type comix, and he noted an old comix mag once printed by Marvel (of all people) called Comix Book that had a lasting effect on his childhood. Inside said Comix Book was a pissy bird (by one Grass Green I believe), named Flip who was opinionated and cranky. My creator said that if he were to do a strip like that today it'd be called Spank The Monkey, and soon, with nothing better to do at the con, suddenly I was born, along with my braindead cousin Shock. Soon I was a semi-regular feature in CFD's media mag Lacunae, and soon after that I and my cousin had out own one shot named SHOCK AND SPANK THE MONKEYBOYS SPECIAL #1. I was not given top billing because my name was considered too harsh at the time (and apparently still is by some though they all have sticks up their asses).

A few years later I headlined my own book for Arrow Comics, which was meant to be a one-shot "FUCK YOU" fluke but got so much attention from the distributor and the media that I haphazardly lasted four issues (which my creator mostly did pressed against deadlines and between getting everyone else's Arrow Comic to press except his own- a lesson he's painfully learned to never repeat). Soon, with the help of a few missed deadlines and creator apathy, my sales had slumped to below profitable, so I was to be canned- exiled to comix folklore.

Shortly after that Arrow Comics was waning and I was again ressurected, this time as a 3-issue "flip-off" of the comics market aptly entitled SPANK THE MONKEY ON THE COMIC MARKET. This time I did what I was intended to do and told the story of comic's past, then present, and now future as best as I could. Thise 3 issues are still recommended reading to a few college Sequetial Arts courses, and still hold up today as a primer on comics and the bastard industry that it has become. Once again I was knocked out of print, as well as Arrow Comics going into hybernation. In the meantime I was also started and stopped as a webstrip a few times, usually whenever my creator could think of something to say. but with the lack of passionate enough opinion, I have drifted on and off the web for a few years as my creator paid bills and looked for other outlets for his creativity and passion.

Then in 2004 I was brought back to life yet again, this time as a commentator for a local monthly newspaper in the Flint Michigan area (my hometown area, born and raised) called The Uncommon Sense until that venture folded in late 2006. Since then I've been popping up here and there, like in Fogel's Underground Comic Book Price Guide, and my own MySpace page: www.myspace.com/spanktmonkey, all the while I still sit in the back of my creator's minds as a voice still viable, and begging to be heard from.

So now, after much thinking and forethought I am back here with this blog, begging folks to "WAKE UP!!" and travel along as I learn and teach and rant and rave about all those things that are important to me. Sometimes we'll talk about comics, sometimes movies or other media, sometimes politics or religon (though not very much because frankly those subjects can be REALLY boring at times), bit mostly just plain "stuff" that I want to share, point out, scream and rant and rave about. I invite your opinions, though you'll have to put up with mine right back, and hopefully I'll provide you with an bit of entertainment and fun along the way- we'll just have to see.

I suggest you bookmark my blog and check in from time to time- I promise you I WON'T be daily, as my maker gets swamped from time to time, and sometimes, when he has way too much time on his hands, I might be MORE than daily- we'll just have to see. I also promise to do my best to not be dull, because the last thing I want is to be some stupid, dull blog here that no one gives a rat's ass about. If I wanted to be ignored I'd still be doing my webstrip- lol!

My philosophy about this blog is a simple one: "WAKE UP!", there are too many sheeple in the world and not enough free thinkers! Too many folks spouting off silly political, religous, and corporate dogma and not enough folks saying "Hey, that's just plain BULLSHIT!", so here I am, perhaps just an oddball nut, perhaps another silly voice everyone will ignore, but honestly just another moneky trying to get a nut (just like all of you), and willing to help folks make more informed opinions and stretch their minds, imaginations and perceptions and the like. I invite money, opinions, bloglinks, and comments, and if you enjoy this oddball collection of shit then let your friends know about me as well- the more the merrier.

I've got a few more odd things up my sleeve, as well as shamelessly hawking for my creator (Randy Zimmerman, owner of Zimm Graphix- check out his web page as well: www.myspace.com/zimmgraphix). You can check out most of my webcomics at the Arrow Comics site: www.arrowcomics.com. If you're nice there's a lot more comics where that came from too and some of it just might wind up here as we go along.

So if you see this, drop me a comment. If I'm more than 3 days late and you're pissed, drop me a comment. If you have shit to add, add it. If you have something to say, don't just say it, but say it LOUD enough for the whole class to hear.

Let's wake up everybody!

Wake up!