Scott Koblish's Many Deaths
My brother in oddness.
I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone this before—I’ve certainly never written about it in a public forum—but for years, I’ve had this thing where when not much is going on, when I’m feeling at peace with the world, and I’m just waiting for something mundane to happen, like a traffic light to change so I can continue my commute; I’ll suddenly imagine myself dying in some horrible, unexpected way. It begins with an odd sense of foreboding, and then my imagination kicks into overdrive. I’m happy to report that, to date, none of these premonitions or morbid fantasies have come to pass. My car hasn’t blown up, and no planes have ever skydived into me.
Pretty weird, huh?
WELL. Proving there’s a book for everyone, here’s another book I found at Ollie’s (for $2.99, still at 15% off!):
You see that fella walking carefree with the balloons? It’s author/illustrator Scott Koblish. For many years, he amused himself by drawing his own death. In 2018, Chronicle Books collected this series of cartoons into the book you see above, where he dies in ways comical and fantastical, often due to his blissful under-awareness. See Scott whistling on the endpaper? That could be me. We are comrades in under-awareness.
It’s one thing to create cartoons like this for personal amusement (which is, admittedly, odd), but it’s another to make them genuinely funny. Here are two examples that demonstrate Scott’s genius:
For the most part, every page is composed of a simple four-page grid, and the drawings have a pleasing simplicity to them, all of which makes the outlandish deaths all the more comedic. As you discover each shocking demise, you’ll catch yourself laughing and flinching at the same time.
Over the July 4th weekend, I not only read some good books I also worked a bit more my “prequel painting” to The Mystery of A Nubbins begun at the Celtic Fling. Here is the finished 12”x24” oil painting:
Speaking of my novel, if you pre-ordered the Essential Edition, you should be receiving it any day now. All the Essential Editions have been signed and sent. Let me know if you’ve received yours and what you think!
If you pre-ordered the Bespoke Edition, this edition has now been approved and ordered. These more complex books are made in the UK and take about a month to produce and a week to ship. I should have them in hand by August and will begin personalizing them at that time. That should take about two weeks, and then I’ll ship those out. Barring any disaster, you should have yours in September as promised.
Finally, I’m excited to announce that because we reached (and exceeded!) our fundraising goals, Indiegogo has made The Mystery of A Nubbins available for sale as an InDemand item. So, if you missed pre-ordering my illustrated novel, you can now purchase it today by following this link:
Order The Mystery of A Nubbins Now InDemand
Until next time, Always Be Creating!
Bill