I decided to start something new.  I call it RECOMMONDAY.  No, I will not be posting a new comic- BUT, I will be posting something I recommend.  It will generally be in the realm of comics and art, but I may branch out some too.  Some of it will be old stuff that has been around, some will be new stuff.  Some will be obscure, some will be mainstream.  The only requirement is that it is some piece of print or film media that has brought me joy and I want to pass it on.

For my first RecomMonday, I present to you the Daily Zoo!

If you are endlessly fascinated by the animal kingdom and love really good, fun art, these books are a treasure.  The story goes that Chris Ayers was diagnosed with cancer and decided to seize life and draw an animal a day.  He did two years worth.  My only gripe is that not every drawing is printed at full page size.  This art is so fun to look at that I would pay for that 365 page book.  He does print the images in small stamp-sized squares at the end, but you don't get a good look at them. 

I used these books with Malachai when we were creating Bad Guy Earth.  I was trying to make up some creatures with him, so I was trying to get him to look through books of animals and pick the cool ones.  After a couple photo books of real animals got a less than zealous response, I got out the Daily Zoo and Malachai devoured every page.  I gave him sticky notes to put on the animals he liked, then I would go back through to each page and ask him to come up with a character based on the animal.  In fact, he tried to directly rip off Chris a couple times because the ideas were so great.

Anyway, check out some sample pages here.  I guarantee this will be one of the most beautiful books on your shelf, and if you are an artist, a priceless source of inspiration and source material for amazing animal renderings.  Every time I open one up I want to hit the zoo with my sketch pad. 

Oh yeah, and from what I understand Chris's battle with cancer is either over, or it is looking good.  I don't know all the details I just know I'm glad we have this guy around and I hope he draws about a zillion more of these.

Ethan

P.S.  This week, the new Axe Cop story begins: “Axe Cop Babysits Uni-Baby” and I am going to be starting a new 3-day posting schedule.  For a while I have been posting on Tuesday and Thursday, but now I will be posting Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  That means on Wednesday you get Axe Cop AND Bearmegeddon if you choose to be a reader of both.  I will adjust things thus: Tuesday and Thursday will be story days, and Wednesday will be Ask  Axe Cop days.  So, you have to look forward to starting tomorrow!