Must Love Frogs

Tales From Retail

If you work in retail, I'm assuming you've had the experience of parents figuring you're a free babysitter.  Liz has had many instances of parents abandoning their children where you're not allowed to leave them, and then getting upset when security is called on the unaccompanied minors.  Which is bizarre, considering how absolutely deadset parents are on protecting the children from anything outside their influence these days.

Sketch: One Less Of Your Kind

I don't want to simply retell Foto Finish's story when it comes to young Franzie Becker, not least for the fact that Liz created that story (credit where it's due).  

So, when things started to go to shit in Dachau, Leonie Becker and her kitten fled to northwest Pennsylvania.  While Leonie was at work, little Franzie would hang out at Presque Isle.  She would run afoul of bullies even in this happy place, and eventually they would brutalize her, siting antisemitic excuses...

Itzel Versus Double Standard

Concept art for an upcoming comic in which teen Itzel's friends (loose term) politely and respectfully suggest that she try sex with men before she commits to being a lesbian.  This was par for the course for gay people in the 90s, and only counted for said gay people.  Straight folks were not required to try before denying.  How's that going nowadays?  I'd like to know.

For what it's worth, the whale shark's name is Soren and the ostrich is Josh.

Like Fire, Hellfire

From our feathered friend TheOwlGoesMoo, I've borrowed a snarky and athletic Infernape and St. Charlified him.  Get up on your paws, claws or whatever hind limbs you're sporting and cheer for Hellfire!

Jimmy Cashew is a vervet monkey who has battled his way into pro wrestling stardom as Hellfire.  He may not be a giant but he's no fuzzy little marmoset either, and his acrobatics in the ring make him a tour de force.  Hellfire is pals with Riley "Rampage" Black, and they o...

Acceptance In The 90s

The 90s were a faraway dystopian time when this sort of dialogue was the closest thing a lot of us had to gay allyship.  Don't even get me started on trans allyship, we didn't know what that was.

Obviously this was before hypocritical toddlers Itzel and Riley (and by extension myself) were out of the closet. 

Good Old Uncle Luca

My elderly cat Luca if he was an anthro in When We Fly, complete with dad bod, little legs and big /monkey/ tail.  He'd be your cigar-chomping uncle who tells lame jokes at high decibels and eats everything in the fridge whenever he comes to visit.

Liz exclusively refers to Luca as "Mr. Man", hence the shirt.

July Special: Fashion Saffron

My beautiful Saffron Masala swept the July special!  Happy birthday to me!

Greeting: Tineid

Nightmare MOOOOON!

Greeting: Nutjob

When we literally fly!  Of course Pony Sue would be a pigasus!

Greeting: Unsingable_Name

Unsingable_Name requested that I design Clem as a pone!  A wild pig-pony appears??  I guess a horn would have helped her in her janitorial duties, but Clem just doesn't say "unicorn" to me.  And since when do I ever go easy on any of them? 

July Special: International Kae Month!

July is a very important month, friends...for many a year ago this month, Angie Kae was born unto you.  That's right, we're celebrating me, lol!  It might be my birthday but we all get a gift!  For July's special, I'll do a SFW fashion pinup of one of my all-time favorite characters.  You pick who I draw!  Please only vote once per Patron.  

June Shout-Out!

You folks made PRIDE month extra fabulous!  Let's give a shout for all our Patrons, and an extra loud shout for our Friends of Frog and up: Nutjob, Tineid, Heartshine, Unsingable_Name, Dragonpone, Floydiana, Icerfour, Greypon3, Jonathan, Jose Rosa, La Limule, Lopoddity, Markus Frisen, Rhys, and Swissair171!

Surfin' Bird

In honor of one of my oldest (chronologically, not age-wise) friends joining the Patreon, I've St. Charlified my pal Joe's character Vincent Avvoltoio: the beach bum better known as Vinnie Vulture.  With a  bright sun in the sky, a surfboard under your arm and a delicious flauta in your hand, what more do you need?

Visit Joe at YourJoeOfJoes @ Instagram.

Greeting: Tineid

Moondancer!  She can dance if she want to, even if her friends leave her behind.

GROOVY NINJAS (Collect Them All!)

GROOVY NINJAS were a cartoon series and toy line that were popular in the 80s and which manages to reinvent itself every decade or so for a new generation of plastic-loving kinder.  One of which was Clem.  She still loves them.  Strap in, dudes, it's time to meet the GROOVY NINJAS!

Once transpired the hideous murder of an esteemed shadow ninja warrior/ classical composer/ hippie by an evil band of same.  To add salt to the fatal wound, his beloved pet /red eared slid...

Take A Break

Take a break, run away with me for the summer, let's go upstate...

Remember when we were teenagers and we could get away with capering around in little outfits like Agnes is wearing?  Yeah, me neither.

I'm sure the real question is, whence the Groovy Ninjas??  I'll get to them a little later.  Incidentally they were huge in the 80s and Mantiski is wearing her mom's old t-shirt.

Daddy's Boy

Is it any wonder why Ike is a daddy's boy to this day?

Back in the misty timewarp of the 80s, Ike was still going by Ivy (because, what choice did he have?).  His mother Ida (whose incredible stubbornness we should recognize but whose ignorance we might not choose to judge too harshly) had but one daughter in her herd of big tough sons, and by Babar's tusks, she was going to have that daughter.  Ida did recognize, however, that Ike and Gnewt had a special bond, and for a while...

Be Prepared For A Meeting That Could Have Been An Email

Here's Sakhr Eesuola, a high muckity muck from Home Office.  He shows up every once in a while at Valerie's branch to make everyone somehow more uncomfortable.  His assistant, Max VanHorne, is the most uncomfortable of all.  Legend has it that Sakhr's last assistant is now the briefcase.

King Sized Bed (Complete)

Red, on a bed, in her head.  A pig who's lost her gig and doesn't feel so big.

Sketch: King Sized Bed

Yes, I know I recently did a sketch featuring an unhappy sow lying pensively on her bed.  But this one is more likely to get finished!

Red was injured when a couple of hooligans attacked her outside of her office.  She beat them up and survived, but they still did a number on her.  Without use of her arm, Red can't work for a while.  She also believes she can't protect her girls from any perceived threats.  For the first time maybe ever, she feels weak.

I ...

Greeting: Nutjob

Nutjob paid off Sweetie Belle's student loans, apparently

BUGS IN SPAAAACE

Princess Leia Insecta, for patron Nutjob.  Help me, Itzel Sloth Kenobitzel, you're my only hope!

All the good ref pics of Leia online have her brandishing her blaster, but Mantiski needs no such thing since she has the superb shredding claws that nature gave her!  I can't justify portraying firearms in When We Fly when you've got lion and elephant and hornet and komodo dragon people running around.  Guns would be superfluous.   Also I dislike guns and prefer not...

Sketch: Cram A Ham In It

Piggy Sue is sick of your shit, wolves.  She's a had a long, hot day and she isn't gonna take kindly to your insipid huffing and puffing.

This could probably be better (is she flipping them off or is she Wolverine?), but I like the shape of her body and at least wanted to maintain the sketch.

Some Nights I Stay Up

I don't want to get too personal on you, but I live with (and am in long-term treatment for) bipolar disorder and severe chronic anxiety.  Even during happy times it's easy for something bad to slip into my psyche and mess me up, sometimes for days on end.  I've been dealing with such a situation for the past couple of days.  There's nothing to do but wait for it to pass.  Many of my characters live and deal with issues of anxiety and trauma, though I haven't assigned bipo...

The Proudest Dad (Complete)

Gnewt lives in a shabby but fairly peaceful apartment complex in the shabby but fairly peaceful suburb of Bradydale.  He is close friends with fellow residents Roger and Marina Firn (Valerie's parents, not shown here) and helps to check in on Abuela Barrios and her granddaughters (also not shown here).

Despite his great desire to help out with Rudy as much as he can, Gnewt does not live in St. Charlies proper and isn't nearby to babysit as often as he might be needed.  I also ...

Patrons: I Need Your Help!

One of the reasons why I have yet to begin a sequential posting of When We Fly is because I can't decide where to start telling the story.  WwF will be told through a rotation of minicomics and short stories accompanied by larger drawings as opposed to fully realized comic pages (though the occasional fully realized comic page is not out of the question).  But I can't take off without a launchpad.  Please vote on the scenario that you think would be the best place for WwF to be...

Ryleigh Beyond The Binary (Complete)

Our beautiful horse and rhino couple.  As afore mentioned in the sketch, Ryleigh has come out as nonbinary.

Meet Riley

The next in line for bio sheets is everybody's favorite wrestling rhino lady, Riley Black!  Have some lore!

Riley's mom was a brave and devoted soul who died in the line of duty as a firefighter.  Young Riley was then raised by her doting grandparents, Wedge and Carmen.  They loved and accepted her through her coming out, and also took in her best friend, Itzel, when the sloth was rejected by her own family.  While they were alive, Riley's Gramps and Abuelita were he...

YET MORE Pokemon PRIDE Mini-Badges!

Well, you know, I love Pokemon, I'm passionate about PRIDE, and cuteness prevails!  

More mini badges > fewer mini badges

Care Of Your Neurotic Cat

That's much better.  Less arguing, you Throuple, and more of this sort of thing!  Show dear Valerie how special she is!

You can tell that this pic is at least partial fantasy because I don't care how healthy and buff you are, no 40-something can spend any length of time putting their weight on their knees without collapsing in total agony.  Try it someday!