Axe Cop

Axe Cop was born Axey Smartist in 2004 to his parents Bobber and Gobber Smartist. After his parents ate candy canes that were poisoned by Telescope Gun Cop he swore on their grave he would become a cop. At some point he decided an axe was a better weapon than a gun, and it turns out he was right. Axe Cop now regularly has try outs for various warriors and super heroes to join him as he fights evil. He only has two known weaknesses: Being surprised (which causes him to melt), and Cherry Rainbow candy canes.

Powers: axe chop, Axe Cop with lemon, lemon grenades, retractable danger-sensing antennae, psychic attacks, poison food production, mustache has robot hands and secret weapons, super high jumps, hypnotize button in wrist

Appearances

Ask Axe Cop #107: How to Practice Humility

I love this one because I love seeing Axe Cop deal with the mundane. People who are far too confident in mediocre work are something you come across a lot more often than super villains in day to day life. Most of us aren’t insane enough to challenge them to a back alley axe fight though.

These prints have arrived! These are hand-screen printed 16×20 on heavy stock. They have a real hand made look to them. The screen prints lose detail in the process, so I personally go back over each one and draw details back into the print using micron pens and a brush pen, making every one of the completely unique.

I’ve got about 25 left. Because I am mailing these this week, I would like to sell as many as possible, so I am having a sale: get 40% off this print with the promo code INEEDTOROCK at checkout. This sale ends Thursday, March 9th (in 3 days)

Here’s an article about the project I have been working on with Make a Wish for the last four years. I can’t believe it has been that long. I’ll post more about that on my Patreon page (where you can also get Axe Cop comics a week in advance and in high resolution. I also have a tutorial on lettering and using Sketchup to help with backgrounds.)

And thanks to everyone who came by my booth at ECCC. This was my first con in years! I was very encouraged by the response I got. I was only there for a day and a half but I sold a good amount of stuff and saw a lot of enthusiasm about both Axe Cop and Bearmageddon. I have been feeling like maybe love for Axe Cop had dwindled, but it turns out that the show has brought about a whole new crop of fans who just needed to find out that there were comics to read. I think I need to do more conventions!

Ethan

Songster #6: Origin of the Songster – Part 1

All right, song 2! I feel like PT makes this feel like Axe Cop’s “Temple of Doom” story. I don’t know. Thanks Parry for giving us more beats to get down to. Part two comes next week, or you can get the full origin on Patreon.

Check out this blog about the details and exclusive items for my trip to Seattle for ECCC. Here are a couple things I’ll have available…

Limited Edition Print

Coloring Kit

New Stickers!

(Based on art from the first-ever Axe Cop screen print!)

Get all the details in the blog. See you there!

Ethan

Ask Axe Cop #106: Those Dark Shades

It turns out that the darkness of Axe Cop’s aviators is nothing compared to the darkness that awaits when he takes them off. I think at some point we need to tell a more extended version of the tale of Axe Cop’s insane uncle.

I hope to see you this weekend at Emerald City Comic Con! I’ll be at booth C14. I won’t be there Thursday (what’s up with cons going 4 days?!) but I’ll be there mid-day Friday through Sunday. I’ll have to cut out a little early on Sunday. I will have screen prints, books, commissions, hugs, handshakes, you name it. I will also be doing a panel for the Make a Wish project I worked on called Time Wreckers Saturday evening, 5:30pm – 6:30pm PST in room WSCC 3B.

Next week’s Ask Axe Cop episode is also great. It is about Axe Cop’s approach to people without an ounce of humility. If you want to read it now, join my Patreon for at least $2/month. Patrons get comics a week early!

Ethan

Songster #5: PT the Rapper

One of my favorite new developments about Axe Cop in this story is this. When he is taken to a concert, he listens to Johnny Cash using in-ear speakers so that he can cope with the annoying music. It sounds like something I would do. Axe Cop is such a great grumpy old man when he wants to be.

I also want to thank Malachai for not making Axe Cop have an entire band with instruments and amps and things. That is so much work to draw. PT the Rapper, I welcome you as a nice, easy band to draw. Plus, Axe Cop hates rap so you are going to one zany, hilarious mismatched pair.

By the way, if you have never read the print-exclusive Axe Cop trades (volumes 2, 4 and 6) I am having a President’s Day sale this week, bundle them all together and save 20%. Just go to the page for any of the books and click on the bundle option.

As always, you can get pages in high resolution, read the bonus content blogs, have a virtual pipe with me and get pages a week early when you join Patreon.

Ask Axe Cop #105: The Hottest Hot Peppers

The Nicolles have a love for spicy foods, so it is only natural that Axe Cop would enjoy his food with a bit of a kick to it.

I’m running a bundle sale this week on all non-web Axe Cop books. I am calling them the President of the World Trilogy. If you are an Axe Cop fan, but have never read these, you must. Basically, the Axe Cop trade paperbacks work like this: 1,3, and 5 are web collections (all stuff you can get on the web), and books 2, 4 and 6 are print exclusives. These are in an ongoing story format, so all three read together will give you one giant, epic continuing story. From how Axe Cop became the president of the world, to how he ruled as president, and how he later handed those duties off to someone else. This week only, buy these three books and get 20% off. You can get them signed and drawn in as well. Just scroll down to the bundle, and click, “add bundle to cart”.

Also, if you want to see next week’s episode about what is behind Axe Cop’s shades, join Patreon to get your early viewing, and to see the comics in high resolution.

Ethan

Ask Axe Cop #104: Morgan Freeman

Perhaps one notable difference is now that Malachai is older, he knows who some of these celebrities are. I am pretty sure his main knowledge of Morgan Freeman is from the narration impression meme videos that are out there.

UPDATE: Good ol’ Dave DeAndrea, the man behind Axe Cop’s voice in the old motion comics sent me this video after he saw this episode. If you want an enhanced reading experience, allow him to read it to you…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaK6C5fTAi0&feature=youtu.be

If you didn’t see it yet, last Thursday’s page of the Songster (the new Axe Cop storyline) had its first Parry Gripp song posted with it.

Also, as always, if you want this comic in high res, and a week early, consider Patreon. Thanks for reading!
Ethan

Songster #3: Commence Rocking

I’m excited to present you with the first musical page of comics in the history of my comic, and possibly the world.

This is a split song. The second half will come with next week’s page (or you are already jamming out to it if you are a Patreon head chopper).

Thanks for keeping up with Axe Cop. Make sure not to miss the latest Ask Axe Cop about Sockarang’s socks, and if you aren’t reading Bearmageddon, you should.

See you here next week for the next half of the song. You can’t trust a guy with a half mustache. I live by that.

Ethan

Songster #2: Red White and Black

Every great sitcom has an episode that begins with free concert tickets. Of course, every bad one does too. Whichever side we are on, this is ours. I can at least guarantee you this, it will be a wholly unique take on the old trope.

I decided to do this comic in red white and black with one or two shades of gray. I had to keep it simple. I didn’t want to worry about getting it colored, but I knew I couldn’t color it myself. Since I did the print in this color scheme and liked it so much, I stuck with it. I like it. It’s fun to allow yourself one color and use it in unique ways.

Want to see the next page and hear the first Parry Gripp song? Join Patreon for at least $2/month and you will get every page a week early, including Ask Axe Cop. Patreon members also get the pages in super high resolution, bonus materials and lots of other stuff. Try it out. If you like my work, you will really dig it.

Also, if you wouldn’t mind taking a minute to fill out this short survey it would really help me in my mission to understand my audience better. I really appreciate you doing this, it helps me a ton.

Check out my art-loaded conversation with PvZ designer Rich Werner about creativity and fatherhood titled Zombie Meatloaf.

Ever been to my store? Use the code ONETIME15 to get 15% off on your first visit. This shirt is now available and if you buy it with the print, you save even more.

Thanks so much for reading!

Ethan

Ask Axe Cop #102: Ice Cream

Ask Axe Cop has returned! I’m so happy to say that. Every time I go back read old episodes of Ask Axe Cop I immediately want to make more. So, finally I did. Ask Axe Cop will be a Monday post for at least the rest of this year, if all goes as planned.

If you want to see this in high resolution every week and would like to see next week’s episode as well (the first ever episode of Ask Sockarang), become a premium headchopper and join my team. (All Axe Cop comics, story and ASK gets posted a week early, along with lots of other exclusive stuff)

Also, I just reduced the price on the Axe Cop comeback tour print, plus this week you can take 10% off everything in my store with the promo code RETURNOFTHEAXE.

If you haven’t yet, make sure to go read the first page of the new story. Axe Cop is back in his first musical, featuring music by internet earworm legend Parry Gripp. New pages post every Thursday.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to those of you who share this post!

Ethan

Axe Cop #5: the Notes

I’m taking a break from my Making Axe Cop blogs this week. Instead, as a continuation in the history of Axe Cop, I am going to share with you the raw notes I took on my phone called with Malachai to write Axe Cop #5. Axe Cop #0-4 were written in person, so I didn’t have notes for those. This was the first time I tried writing with Malachai over the phone. I was amazed how well this went. I was afraif it wouldn’t have the same feel. In some ways it was different. It was a lot more information, less action. But it was actually a great way to work. I found this old text file in my Axe Cop folder.

I have a folder on my computer I started called “Malachai” when he was three. It includes a few drawings I let him do on my Wacom tablet, and a few drawings he dictated to me as I drew, then one day I added a folder called “Axe Cop”, because I drew a few Axe Cop comics with him. To this day, my “Axe Cop” folder is still inside the “Malachai” folder, and it is freaking massive. As you read, if you know the comic well, you will see how I organized this and did some editing.

Click here to read the original Axe Cop #5 Comic

Axe Cop #5 Notes
axe cop 5

malachai:
important mission
we need to save leaf man.
leaf man has powers but the bad guys stole his leaf powers
bad santa stole them (he steals the presents from santa)
bad guy gang… with an evil flying book that bites people and eats people
the book’s name: “evil flying book”
the book is actually a robot

(Malachai speaks as Axe Cop in first person)
at the sign up place someone was yelling for us, so we quit the mission
what’s your name? sockarang (boomerang socks) .. socks for arms
bad santa has christmas magic and the power to hurt ears (hurting ear power)
sockarang gets the blood of evil Santa and becomes super villain santa that is good

avocado cop touches the blood and becomes evil santa too

Follow up questions:
Q: Does avocado soldier use his horn for any magic? (maybe to change back into flute cop with a horn?)
A: He wishes to give leaf man’s powers back
Q: what does Ralph do?
A: he just watches and sings a loud song “tick tock the mouse ran up the clock”

Q: Does anyone die in the fight?
A: Good santa stole bad santa’s guitar
They go back to a try out: baby man.
“Shake what your baby gave ya.”
A baby that can fly when he gasses
A man who has a baby suit
The flying book is the hardest one
Uni man and a wrestler
Wrestler throws uniman at book

Q: Where are the bad guys? do they get leaf man’s powers back?
how do they get the blood out of bad santa?

(no answers recorded)

Random things axe cop says in a fight:

I think I’m gona chop your head off soon

I think I’m gonna go home and get something for dinner so I think I’m done with my job

My job is being an axe cop

I had a lot of work to do

I’m tired and hungry, so I am going to eat stuffed eggs with mayonnaise and yolk and mustard and then you put it in where the yolk was and paprika on top.

stuffed eggs with power potion

whenever I eat I get powers

one of the potions is called “transform”

turns into a gun pail buffalo and shoots out of his horns

____________________________________________________________________
reworked/organized:
Ralph Wrinkles’s important mission is this:
A guy named Leaf Man has had his powers stolen by a gang of bad guys
the gang of bad guys is Bad Santa (who steals presents from good Santa, he also has the power of Christmas and the power to hurt ears)
and also “evil flying book” which flies around and bites people.

in order to fight these guys they must have another tryout.
At the tryout, Sockarang joins the team. His arms are socks and they shoot off and return like boomerangs.
So Sockarang, Leaf Man, Axe Cop, Ralph, and Avocado soldier go to fight bad santa.

At the fight, ralph just sings “tick tock the mouse ran up the clock”.
Bad Santa hurts their ears with his guitar.
Evil flying book keeps biting them.
They retreat to hold more tryouts.

At the tryouts they recruit Baby Man, Wrestler, and Uni-man.
Uni-man says he took up crime fighting when his child was stolen.
Baby man’s motto is “shake what your baby gave ya.” and he can fly when he gasses.

In the fight they realize that the book is actually a robot.

The wrestler throws uni-man into the book and it explodes.
they defeat bad santa by taking his guitar… sockarang gets bad santa blood on him and gains his powers.

They win, but leaf man never got his powers back, so avocado soldier gives them back using his unicorn horn.