Make Mine Mike

Obviously, I enjoy doing cartoons about my friends and family, but I also like when they draw them about me.

My friend Jerry created this one while we were working on a screenplay together, a teen comedy called This Means War.

One idea we considered for the movie was having a character named "Scoop", a nerdy school newspaper reporter who may or may not have a press pass stashed in his hat band, but would definitely provide the other students, and the audience, the buzz on all important occurrences. Then Jerry and I discussed whether Scoop was a good idea. Was he a clever tongue-in-cheek shortcut for revealing info? Would he fit well into the narrative and the tone of our script? Or was this too self-referential and similar to "Basil Exposition" in the Austin Powers movies?

We discussed this with no animosity whatsoever. Nope, none at all. Collaborating is difficult. I don't know any writing partners who don't have disagreements that sometimes get a bit ugly. Except for me and Jerry. See, if it got tense, I simply explained that he was completely wrong about everything. Sometimes I'd draw a cartoon to illustrate my point. Problem solved, right? But then Jerry drew this one in response. Say what you will about his artistic abilities... I thought this sketch completely out-funnied me. Curse your hilarious hide, Jerkydog.


(Click on the image to enlarge it.)