Cerebus Meets The Possum & Tony The Tiger

Cerebus, The Possum and THE! TONY! THE! TIGER!

Art by Blair Kitchen 

(Click image to enlarge)

DAVE SIM:
(via John Funk via Dropbox, 17 January 2015)

The Last Undesignated Off-White House Copies Recipient: The last Off-White House visitor to access the "Off-White House Copies" was Blair (THE POSSUM) Kitchen who had some holes in his CEREBUS collection.

"Just make a list and the next time you're over, we'll go downstairs and rifle through the long boxes and then check 'my personal stash' in the Off-White House Liberry."

I think I had to tell him a couple of times but he and Rochelle (Hi Rochelle!) and the kids (Hi, "Tex"! Hi Jacob! Hi Nate!) showed up for a visit and he had the list. It was pretty funny. "#144". "Yes!" "#148". "Yes." One after another, plugging in the major holes... and then the inevitable question: "Are you sure you don't want me to pay you for these?"

I'm sure, Blair. Just give me everything with THE POSSUM on it or in it when you do something and we are MORE than even. Which he already was doing.

And then I thought a few days later, "Wait a minute -- not money but what about a speciality drawing?" So, I told him I had changed my mind. No deadline but what I'd REALLY like is something that I can put up in the Off-White House that hardcore civilians would go, "Wow! That's cool!" I mean all of the art that I have is by people they've never heard of (including Dave Who?). "Oh, yeah . Whatever." But Blair Kitchen -- Blair Kitchen did a Tony the Tiger animated commercial for FROSTED FLAKES! SERIOUSLY! Tony the Tiger! WHOA! Now, you're talking! MAJOR CIVILIAN STREET CRED!

So what I asked for was an animation cell pencil drawing of Cerebus, The Possum and THE! TONY! THE! TIGER! Like they're all in the same FROSTED FLAKES commercial!

So he did! Not, you know, right away. Cartoonists are all the same. Just get caught up on all those outside favours we promise people -- what a relief! -- swear to never say Yes to anything again EVER and, before you know it you've got three more things you've promised to do hanging over your head.

So, he finally got "Dave's cockamamie FROSTED FLAKES thing" done and off his back. He even added "inside animation" details like (I hope Blair will correct me as I'm probably getting this wrong) the chart in the upper right that indicates that this is frame #14 and that #14, #18 and #20 are done by the master animator and where the "in-between" cels need to be done by the "in between" animators.

He was going to plug a FROSTED FLAKES box into the little rectangle balanced on Tony's tail but his printer ran out of ink. Besides, it looks like a finished pencil animation drawing with just the rectangle there.

Do I have the guts to do a Bonus Print of this?

I think it would be funny if some Photoshop fan with WAY too much time on his hands mocked it up as a cel! Or done like a LIFE Magazine ad from -- say, when DID Tony the Tiger first appear? Who makes FROSTED FLAKES anyway? Do you suppose they have a sense of humour? Or am I so totally invisible that you can't even SEE Tony the Tiger in proximity to me if you OWN Tony the Tiger? That's pretty potent invisibility if you think of it. But! I love a challenge!

Okay, now that I have it scanned and TimW has a copy that you can download if you're a Photoshop guy with too much time on his hands, I can now get it framed! Not a new frame but one of the Off-White House frames that still has a drawing in it from, like, 1976. That way I only have to buy a new mat and clean the glass so you can see through it.

Out of the way, there! TONY THE TIGER AND THE POSSUM COMING THROUGH!

 Issues #1-5 of The Possum by Blair Kitchen now available!

UPDATE:

Tony the Tiger, the Possum & Cerebus

Pencils by Blair Kitchen, everything else by L Jamal Walton

"...because I'm a 'Photoshop guy with too much time on his hands'."