Mike Dawson

The Doors of Perception

Thoughts on TWISTER (1996)

Money vs. Passion

The past two months have been extremely busy comics-wise. I took on a large freelance project (that was hugely fun and gratifying, but also very very labor-intensive), at the same time my newest graphic novel, The Fifth Quarter: Hard Court released. I had arranged quite a lot of library visits and a few bookstore signings to celebrate it making its way into the world, so that was a lot of traveling around and meeting readers and drawing drawings for them, and so on. I ...

No Billing in August

Just a short post to let you know I will not be billing Patrons again this coming month, I have been deep deep underwater with a large freelance project as well as traveling across the state of New Jersey on something of a mini-tour of libraries and bookstores to promote the release of my new graphic novel, The Fifth Quarter: Hard Court. If you haven't had a chance to check that out y...

Did You Ever Hear of The Tragedy of Bean Dad on Twitter?

Patreon Pause + The Fifth Quarter 2

I've been extremely busy with a large freelance project the past few weeks, which is why things have been quiet here. This is a good thing, I am getting paid to write and draw comics, and it's work I'm enjoying and am proud of, but it's made it very difficult to draw diary strips or finish the work of putting together the next 'zine I'm assembling for 'zine subscribers.

I am going to pause all monthly payments for the next few months. I'll reactivate in September, which will also be the...

The difference between writing and not writing

Is making a note

So much togetherness

Productive Hours

Complaining About Star Wars Again

In defense of Star Wars, what had seemed to be the worst thing about Rise of Skywalker (the threat that was seemingly dealt with decades ago all of a sudden reappears to menace a new generation) turns out to have been the most prescient

A bad tattoo

For Romper, I revisited a diary comic that I'd written about a bullseye tattoo I have that I regret and hate having to explain. I wrote an all-new essay to accompany it, about how the tattoo not only reminds me of a time in my life, but also the people in my life at that time, specifically my Mom, who as I say, has never ever expressed any disappointment in me fo...

Pasty Person

I love living at the Jersey Shore, but I was built for the overcast and damp climates of the British Isles

Diner Problems

The Far Side

Social Battery

I hate this comic

Dog Facts

Hair Problems

I need an exterminator

'zines by mail

I've started packing up and mailing out the first batch of FUN-TIME Spring 2022 comics, a brand new 'zine series collecting the best of my diary comics and cartoon essays. Issue one is 20 pages long, full-color, and filled with cartoons that will make you laugh and make you think. I'm extremely proud of it, and looking forward to getting it out to readers.

For a while now, I've dreamed of establishing a 'zine-by-mail offering through this Patreon, something that pays for itself in terms...

No-Prize please

How To Spot a Fascist

It’s getting too easy

"SAD-BOY" bonus zine!

Hello to my new patrons and to those of you who have recently decided to support me at one of the 'zine subscription tiers. I am extremely excited about the first mini-comic I'm assembling, FUN TIME. I'm really looking forward to dropping it into the mail to you in April. I'll have more preview pages and photos of the actual physical zines to share in the coming weeks.

As a token of my gratitude for signing up, and in an effort to hopefully entice more folks into backing me at the 'zine...

FUN TIME zine

I wanted to share this cover I've been putting together, for a new comics 'zine called FUN TIME, and to explain some details about the different tier options I've created for this Patreon.

FUN TIME will be a quarterly collection of my best diary comics, short stories and autobiographical strips. I anticipate each issue being between 16-20 pages long, with classic 'zine dimensions (5.5x8.5), and absolutely PACKED with comics! 

I will mail a copy of FUN TIME to Patrons supporti...

Batman 1989

Respect the Intent

Meowstic

When Writing Happens... part one (Patrons Only)

I have an idea for a comic more than ten panels long (the maximum length of an Instagram strip, where I usually post all my work), so I'm going to publish it in parts here on Patreon before figuring out what else to do with it.

I recently got to give a Visiting Artist lecture at the Center For Cartoon Studies, and part of my presentation was about the circumstances that writing The Fifth Quarter: Hard Court happened in. When I got to those slides and tried reading them, an unexpectedly ...

Tough Questions

Cucumber and a Kombucha

In just about one month's time it's the second anniversary of what was, to me, the most amusing moment of the pandemic. We had to live off that one cucumber and bottle of Kombucha for months!

This is a redrawn and colorized version of the much sketchier looking comic that I drew back in 2020. I've started pulling together material to highlight in a crowdfunding campaign to self-publish a well-produced collection of some of my best online comic essays and diary strips into one coherent b...

Absorbing Criticism

Exclusive to Patrons until next week, I worked at Great Adventure drawing caricatures for two summers after I graduated college. Most of my co-workers were still in High School or college, so it didn’t help a ton with that general feeling of being adrift that I suffered through for quite a while after leaving art school, but it was also one of the most fun jobs I ever had. Just a really great group of artists, doing our best to earn a living and have a good time. I think back on it very fon...