I promise, I'm not going to make this the place where I talk about how bad we poor widdle cartoonists have it, but two more of my favorite people in comics have got serious problems to deal with.
Scritch cartoonist Lucas Phelps has been jailed on a manslaughter charge (not for manslaughter as Comixpedia's header on the case says). The contents of the article at Comixpedia are copied straight from Graphic Smash's press release:
[The charge] is the result of an auto accident that took place almost two years ago, well before he began Skritch.
In the time that I've known him, Phelps has been a dapper professional, the precise opposite of his selfish, nasty title character. His quirky sense of humor and adventure makes for a delightful read, and has propelled Skritch from a slow start into one of Graphic Smash's most popular features.
I am in communication with Phelps's wife Jennifer. She informs me that Lucas is planning to write, draw and ink new Skritch episodes from the inside... as soon as she can get him supplies. But even after that, his new circumstances present challenges to the production process. He'll have to mail the strips to her for coloring. Under such circumstances, his work has to be placed on indefinite hiatus.
He'll be missed, and his return will be welcomed.
I agree, and although I don't know the particulars, I hope he gets cleared of all
charges. The two-year delay seems dodgy to me in any case.
[Update: T Campbell reports that Lucas pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He will be eligible for parole in 3 1/2 years. T also writes:
I have to come to terms with my own hypocrisy, here. If I had known the victim and not Lucas, I would probably hate Lucas for this. How many others have I condemned in my thoughts as totally evil based upon a single moment of astonishingly poor judgment?
Don't misunderstand me: manslaughter is a grievous wrong. And I accept that he deserves punishment. But I insist he also deserves the chance to continue his art. He plans to: as I write this, his wife is working to get him art supplies. As I said in the original announcement about this, "he will be missed, and his return will be welcomed."
And with that, too, I'm in complete agreement.
]
Carol Lay has found out that the tall, handsome and funny charmer she married a few years ago has racked up $24,000 in secret credit card bills, and stolen and lied about money. To get him out of his life, she needs to buy him off, so she's selling a lot of her originals cheap. read all about it at the Comics Journal Message Board.