O' 'deer

ComicStripFan.Com

O' 'deer, by Groovi (Joseph Grevelli)

Christmas is a grand time of year, when Santa graces us with his presence and presents and flies through the sky with the greatest of ease in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer. But what do they do for the other 364 days of the year? That's the premise behind O' 'deer, a delightful webcomic done by Joseph "Groovi" Grevelli. I really enjoy the interaction between the characters, as each of the cast is very well developed. I asked Groovi how he thought up such wonderful personalities for each of the reindeer, and this was his reply.

"I always say the four main characters are four different aspects of me. Cupid is my grumpiness. Donder is my shyness, Rudy is my silliness, and Basie is the coolness I try to achieve. Though it never seems to work. *sigh* oops, that's my Donder slipping in. Rudy is also loosely based on my friend John 'Willi' Williams."

I am very proud and pleased to present some wonderful O' 'deer original art for your enjoyment. Check it out below.

Example of O' 'deer preliminary art for a daily by Groovi, drawn in January 2003. The picture is censored with a large question-mark at the request of Groovi, as it's a character to be revealed later. The story behind this artwork, as told by Groovi: "Way back in January 2003, I was waiting for my paperwork to come in from the Copyright office. I wanted to get a jump-start on the series so I started drawing new strips. This was the first strip I laid out. I drew it on regular copy paper in pencil. I laid out a few more of them. I created a new character and I wanted to introduce him. He happened to be a [?]. I realized that the series was going to premiere in the middle of spring, and introducing a [?] didn't seem right so scrapped the whole thing.

"This drawing has not been seen by anyone. The [?] character will hopefully have his premiere this winter."

Example of O' 'deer daily by Groovi, May 17, 2003. The story behind the art, as told by Groovi: "As explained in the book, when I started the series I drew on 8 1/2" x 11" paper in little 3" x 3" boxes in a row. I wanted more room to draw so I expanded the boxes, but kept the size of the paper the same for scanning purposes. After I scanned the drawing I would put the boxes in a row, cleaned them up, colored them and lettered them. I finally switched to 14" x 17" Bristol and use the larger scanner at work. I originally drew with a regular lead pencil. Now I use a non-photo blue.

"What humble beginnings. Like many artists, I cringe at my early stuff. Bleck!"

Personally, I think Groovi's art looks great even at this early stage.

An absolutely incredible original sketch of the O' 'deer crew on the beach in Hawaii by Groovi, featuring Rudy (being his usual insane self), Donder and Cupid. What an awesome piece; thanks, Groovi!

Cover of The Great Arctic Blast, the first O' 'deer collection.

Inside cover of The Great Arctic Blast, signed with a great inscription from Groovi. Note the great homage to Charles Schulz of Peanuts fame.

The front and back of a pair of laminated O' 'deer bookmarks.

A laminated O' 'deer promotional card.

Some O' 'deer stickers.

A promotional giveaway featuring some collected O' 'deer strips.

Cover of Groovi's "mini-mini comicbook" of O' 'deer, issue 1.

Cover of Groovi's mini-comic of O' 'deer, issue 2.

Cover of Groovi's mini-comic of O' 'deer, issue 3.

Cover of Groovi's mini-comic of O' 'deer, issue 4.

A great mini-printout of a print of O' 'deer's Jackie.

A great mini-printout of a print of "The Rudy".

A great mini-printout of a print of Hip Hop Rudy.

Sketch of O' 'deer's Basie on package received from Groovi. As with other package art that I receive, I just can't bring myself to throwing this away because of the sketch.

Check out O' 'deer for yourself by clicking on the link below: