Hello, World.
I just have to say, it’s GREAT to be drawing comics again.
- PMBQ
Unemployed Pandas
Times are tough…even when you’re the Best Ninja Panda in Town.
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What would Ninja Panda do?
March 26th, 2009
It’s funny how things come together. Growing up in the 80’s, my biggest hobby throughout high school was collecting comic books. I could hardly wait every week or month until a new issue of X-Men came out whether it was Uncanny X-Men, Classic X-Men, New Mutants, etc… These were some of the greatest stories of family and friendship and I felt like I was standing right along side them as they went through each emotional peak and valley. The X-Men did not own a monopoly on intricate inter-personal relationships. Other series’ that left an impression at such an early age include early stories of the Elementals, Teen Titans, Matt Wagner’s Grendel, the classic Batman: The Killing Joke graphic novel and numerous others.
Most of these stories describe the extent to which people would go and sacrifice in order
to survive when faced with tremendous challenges. Granted some of these stories are on the darker side, but they are excellent example of how comics can tap into human emotion and entice the reader to see life through the eyes of these characters. Characters who have been put in extraordinary situations.
The challenges being faced today have put many of us in similar positions, requiring difficult choices. Unemployment is rising monthly, growing numbers of houses are going into foreclosure and even greater challenges face every person as they strive to put food the table for their families. It is times like this that we call upon our heores and role model to light the path forward, guide us in making those difficult choices. One question is universally asked when faced with such challenges.
“What would Ninja Panda do?”
Unemployed Pandas was born out of a series of coffee shop meetings/e-mail threads between Mai and myself. We both have jointly and individually been through interesting situations over the past year. At the end of the day you can only laugh and continue on your journey, which we often do over coffee. Eventually we started imagining “what would Ninja Panda do if he was in our shoes?” and that’s how this started.
True Events?
The core of the story revolves around our two pandas, Ninja Panda and Samurai Panda, the situations they have been put in, how they handle challenges and what they learn about themselves and eachother. Some of the stories in this series are loosley based on real life events, obviously the names of individuals will be replaced in order to protect their innocence UNLESS they really pissed either of us off. You can also expect a variety of cameos from characters that have left a very strong impression on our two pandas.
Follow our two pandas as they begin a journey faced with the new reality that pandas need stimulus too.
-Mervyn
New Beginnings
March 27th, 2009
Ninja High School, PMBQ's First Published Work!
There’s been a trend in my comics career. Typically, I draw a title intensely for a few years, and then disappear for 3 years. This occurred when I used to draw contributing stories to Antarctic Press‘ Ninja High School anthology series, and more recently with my creator-owned work Tea Club. It’s not a trend I’m proud of, but as I’ve done it twice I’m forced to acknowledge my own history.
However, these hiatuses are not without good reason. Primarily, they occur when I’m forced to prioritize an issue that comes up for most of us: living expenses! Yeah, you know how your parents always try to discourage you from growing up to become a comic artist? There is definitely truth to it. Whenever I’ve sacrificed time to draw comics, my finances have pretty much always suffered. To offset this, I usually freelance doing some sort of graphic or web design. (Side note: I am totally an advocate of an artist needing to suffer in order to further her/his craft. That’s a topic for a separate blog, though.)
Occasionally I have taken full-time jobs, which is how I met my current partner-in-crime, Mervyn. To those of you who have followed my past work, you’re probably surprised to see me actually collaborating with someone. I’m pretty much like every other control-freak artist, where I don’t like to compromise or give up any control. I certainly never looked for nor aspired to work with a partner.
My last day job changed all that. Although the company I joined was rather dry and technical (they manufactured and marketed network analysis devices), I was impressed by Mervyn’s unconventional thinking and ambitious strategies. I found myself going out of my way to support his projects and points of view with whatever graphics and illustrations he needed, and generally putting in far more hours than I had planned for in any day job. (After all, my passion is, and always will be, illustration.) The more I worked with Mervyn, the more I discovered how much we had in common—growing up in the Bay Area, collecting comic books, attending anime/comic conventions, even going to the same comic book store chain. It was pretty amazing that our nerdy paths had not crossed until last year.
Recently, our company closed its doors, but our friendship remained. Over the past several months, we both tried other gigs and employment, and went through many interesting experiences. We continued to meet for coffee, still brainstorming and trying to figure out what our next half-baked venture might be. Occasionally, our former colleagues would join us and share their own colorful tales of life post-employment.
During one of our coffee sessions, I mentioned to Mervyn how I’ve always wanted to tell the story of my characters, Ninja Panda and Samurai Panda. I had concrete ideas of how I thought it would play out, but Mervyn easily saw that I had been clearly overthinking the whole thing. Thinking of our own and friends’ recent experiences, as well as the current economic times, wouldn’t it be fun to make a comic about that? Combine that with my love of drawing comics and pandas, we just might be onto something…
And that’s why we’re here.
- PMBQ
Tea Club vs. Unemployed Pandas
April 29th, 2009
I suppose it’s finally time to address a question that keeps coming up at both conventions and online: What’s going on with Tea Club?
My hope was to get back to it later this year, as I got back into the swing of drawing comics with Unemployed Pandas. I will be honest, though; the last storyline of Resident Tea-vil will most likely never get finished. It’s simply a case of losing steam, and as it’s sat for quite a few years now it’s really hard to get back into it. The story actually was supposed to go on for another 10-12 pages and then end, and I had already storyboarded it.
Regarding Volume 2 of the Tea Club manga, such a project may not happen anytime soon. If you look at any graphic novel, it is a significant amount of work. The first volume alone represents 6 solid months of intense writing, storyboarding, pencilling, inking, Photoshop-toning, and Illustrator-lettering that was 95% completed by my own hand. It was a heart-wrenching, stressful, and mind-boggling experience that my body and mind are strongly advising me not to go through again. I have no regrets about having completed it, but I definitely need to re-think my work structure when it comes to putting volume 2 together.
So those are my initial thoughts about Tea Club. I also miss it dearly. The characters are still a joy to draw, but at the moment I feel a bit out of touch with where the whole universe left off. I have been brainstorming on how the next Tea Club arc will begin, though, so please know that the entire story has not been abandoned.
Right now, I’m really enjoying the chance to finally tell the story about Ninja Panda and Samurai Panda. Ninja Panda, Samurai Panda, and the myriad of panda characters that have graced my t-shirt line over the past few years have been patiently waiting to have their story told, and their presence has increased so much over the years that many anime/comic convention attendees often wonder what the heck a “random generic catgirl” is doing in their midst. (Don’t worry, it saddens me to hear them think that Hana Neko is a random generic catgirl too.) This year has been interesting in testing out the waters with Unemployed Pandas, and it is strange to hear an outcry from old Tea Club fans wondering about Tea Club Volume 2.
It’s finally gotten to the point where I decided to leave it open to discussion. What do you guys think? Would you be interested in seeing more Tea Club sooner than later? Leave a comment and let me and Mervyn know, so we can figure out the next step…
- PMBQ
Caption Contest - Special Edition T-shirt
May 4th, 2009
Win This T-shirt!
PMBQ and I have been tossing around a few ideas for t-shirt contests for readers of unemployed pandas. As you know PMBQ is also the artist behind pmbqshop.com where she offers up some great panda apparel. What you might not have known is that there is a special edition t-shirt design of Ninja Panda and Samurai Panda that has only been available at Anime and Comic shows.
The shirt has been the hottest of the season so we decided to give one of these to a fan of unemployed pandas. Here is a sneak peak of the special edition t-shirt design. You also have the option to pick a different design from pmbqshop.com.
Contest Details
If you had a chance to read through the series, you’ll notice a good amount of sarcasm combined with humour. For this contest, simply submit a caption for one of the last two Friday Odd Jobs pages (American Idol or H1B1 Swine Flu). You can submit the caption either in the comments of the page or by sending it via tweet to @upandas. Extra points if someone retweets the caption!!
The winning caption should capture the spirit and character of the unemployed pandas, so have fun with it. I have found that pulling the old ninja or samurai uniform from the closet and meditating for a few hours gets me into the right frame of mind. Just a thought.
We’ll take all entries until Monday, May 11. Then PMBQ and I will huddle up and pick the winner. Good luck to all.
-Mervyn
Next Convention: Fanime Con, May 22-25
May 15th, 2009
*5/22/09 PLEASE NOTE PANEL DAY & TIME ARE UPDATED!!*
P.M.B.Q. Studios will be at Fanime Con next week, in San Jose, CA!
Check us out in the Dealer’s Room, where you’ll be able to see the fruits of my artistic labor these past few months (aka t-shirt and product designs). Some of these things will be cross-posted from my blog.
You’ll be able to find me at my booth on Friday and Monday, but on Saturday and Sunday I will be in the Artist Alley with my very talented friend Jeannie Lee. I’ll have the Unemployed Pandas Limited-Edition ashcan (e.g. mini-comic), along with buttons and posters for sale. In addition, I will be taking a limited number of art commissions.
Additionally, Jeannie, Karen Luk and I will be giving a special presentation:
History and Intro to Manga Art
SATURDAY at 1pm (updated!)
Marriott Salon 3 (updated!)
No Badge Required!
This presentation is FREE and open to the general public (meaning you don’t need a badge to attend). It’s geared towards parents and anyone who is new to manga/anime. It ties into my free drawing resource, Manga Start. (Who knows, we might be giving out some door prizes, too…imagine that ^_-)
Hope to see you there.
- PMBQ
Anime Expo is Next! July 2-5 in Los Angeles
June 12th, 2009
Catch P.M.B.Q. Studios next at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, July 2-5!
To those who are not going to Anime Expo, we will also be exhibiting at San Diego Comic Con, July 23-26.
Sorry it’s been pretty quiet on the blog front lately.
Really appreciate everyone coming to visit FanimeCon a few weeks ago. Things went well, and it was nice to welcome new readers to the site. Also, it’s just nice to finally have the story of Ninja Panda and Samurai Panda available to give context to the shirts at the PMBQShop.
We’ve got our hands full doing re-orders for Anime Expo, keeping up with the comic, plotting schemes with Sakura of America, Manga Start, and BayAnime , planning the re-design and re-opening of the PMBQShop and also working on new t-shirt designs.
With that said, I gotta get back to printing up some prototypes for this summer’s designs. See ya (via comic update) on Monday :)
- PMBQ
July is Benefits Month! Call for Submissions!
June 24th, 2009
We’re taking a break from the main storyline this month. Summer is in the air, as well as summer conventions! Currently, we’re just more inspired to draw illustrations reflecting upon the benefits of having the summer off. Whether you’re employed, unemployed, or a student, we’re hoping you can relate!
We’d also like to take this chance to invite any other artists to submit their own illustrations of Ninja Panda and/or Samurai Panda and/or Kunoichi Panda enjoying the summer! Mervyn and I would love to see your depictions of our favorite pandas.
If you’re interested, here are the Submission Specs:
- Final image size is 960 pixels wide by 639 pixels tall, 72 dpi
- If possible, we recommend you work at 2001×1332, 300 dpi (just for your own working copy)
- Acceptable formats are PSD, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, EPS, and AI.
- Try to keep your submission to 2 MB or below.
- If your submission is larger than 2 MB, please email us a link to your work, rather than attaching
- Send submissions to UPANDAS at PMBQ dot COM (replace words with symbols, and you can use lowercase :)
When you submit, it’s mutually understood that you are granting Mervyn and I the copyright to publish the work, both in print and online. We’ll be sure to give you credit, as well as a surprise bonus. You are allowed to sell prints of your work as well, of course!
If you have any questions about any of this, feel free to leave a comment, email us at upandas at pmbq dot com , or tweet us @upandas .
OK, hope y’all are enjoying your summer!!
- PMBQ & Mervyn
P.M.B.Q. Studios @ SDCC, Booth #4519
July 22nd, 2009
Just a quick note to let everyone know that I’m exhibiting at Comic Con! I’ve been posting on Twitter for the past month, but I figured I would post here as well.
You can find me at my own booth, P.M.B.Q. Studios, #4519 (near the Fantasy Illustrator section). We pretty much have the same spot that we’ve had for the past few years.
I’ll be at the booth most of the time, and will be available to do cap sketches and watercolor commissions. Hope to see some of you there!
- PMBQ
End of Summer 2009
July 31st, 2009
Today marks the last day of “Unemployment Benefits,” at least for this summer. It’s been a lot of fun to depict the various activities that the Pandas have been doing lately, so I really hope you’ve enjoyed that.
August will be a new month with a new story arc. Will Ninja Panda find work? Will Samurai Panda make any progress with his bakery? Will there be a new Unemployed Panda?
Tune in next Monday to find out :)
Also, THANK YOU to everyone who came by and supported us at the summer conventions. We had tons of fun meeting old and new fans, as well as creating a lot of fun art. Although it has been a challenging year for us (as it has been for everyone), we’ve still managed to keep our chins up and have a good time. Despite the economy and whatever might be going on in your lives, we hope you are doing the same.
See ya next week!
- PMBQ
