Many years ago I had this really bright idea that I could somehow make a career out of drawing cartoons. It was such a bright idea I told myself, that I should create a website as a means of showcasing that endeavor and begin the process of raking in all those millions of dollars waiting to be thrown at me with reckless abandon.

I’m such a clever guy.

The post Bright Idea appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

This month Raccoon Toons is updating 4 days a week! We’re also holding our annual contest in which one lucky winner will be chosen at random to be drawn into a future Raccoon Toons comic strip!

So, if YOU want a chance to be featured in an upcoming comic strip (and I know you do), enter the contest by following these quick and easy steps:

1. Subscribe to Raccoon Toons, or follow us on your favorite social media site. We’re on all of them. Seriously.

2. Find your favorite comic strip or post and share it with your social media friends.

3. Leave a comment on one of our media pages or this website and tell me that you’ve shared and that you’re officially entering this month’s contest. Do not skip this step!!

4. Eat a cookie. This part is critical.

That’s it!! It’s super easy! And all your social media friends will thank you because you’re introducing them to a world of cartoon raccoons! It’s a win-win-win!!!

You only have until the end of March. So don’t wait. Enter TODAY!!

The post Agent W appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

Admit it. It’s your lifelong dream to be drawn into a Raccoon Toons comic strip. Of course it is. I mean, if it isn’t your lifelong dream, then your dream is stupid and you should get another dream. Like being drawn into a Raccoon Toons comic strip for example. There. Glad we’re all on the same page.

So, now’s your chance to fulfill that lifelong dream of yours by entering the “Who Wants To Be In a Comic Strip?” contest!! There’s a lot of words in the name of this contest and I’m kinda tired of typing them out, so we’re just going to refer to it as “WWTBIACS?” from now on. Hmm. I kinda hoped that acronym was going to spell something cooler than that, but hey whatever. I guess it is what it is. But I digress…

For the rest of March I will be posting comic strips FOUR DAYS A WEEK!! Why you ask? Because I love you. We should really go out for milkshakes sometime. We could cuddle. Just sayin’.

During this month-long comic strip posting bonanza, you have the opportunity to enter the WWTBIACS? contest! The winner will be drawn into a future Raccoon Toons comic strip, thus fulfilling all your hopes and dreams and allowing you to die happy. You’re welcome.

Entering the contest is super easy and super free. Here’s how:

1. Subscribe/Like/Follow

Subscribe to Raccoon Toons in some capacity. Pick a method. RSS/email, like us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, etc. (RSS or email guarantees you the most updates.) Pick one. Heck pick all. More is always better. Go big or go home.

2.Share

Share your favorite comic strip/post/cartoon/whatever from the site. The rule here is that it needs to be your FAVORITE. Don’t just pick the most recent. Poke around the site and find that comic or post or cartoon that speaks to the very yearnings of your soul like no other. Than share it. Post it on Facebook. Twitterize it. Email it to a friend. Post it on your blog. Write the URL in a letter to your grandma. Share the crap out of it. Because nothing says “this cartoon fulfilled the very yearnings of my soul” like sharing it with everyone you know on social media websites. And if you have more than one favorite, than clearly you need to share them all. Clearly.

3. Tell Me You’ve Entered

Leave a comment somewhere on the website or on the facebook page telling me you’ve entered. Or email me directly and let me know to enter your name into the contest drawing. Bottom line: if you do not tell me what and how you shared, I won’t know that you did it, and your name won’t be entered into the contest. And you want your name entered into the contest. It’s your lifelong dream.

4. Eat a Cookie

Yes, I will also accept the eating of Fig Newtons, even though they are fruit and cake and technically not cookies. But so delicious… Mmmmmm….

That’s it! SO easy!! At the end of the month, one lucky winner will be selected at random and will be drawn into a future Raccoon Toons comic strip! YES!! So don’t wait! Ready go!

The post Want To Be In The Comic Strip? appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

Creating this one was a walk down memory lane.

Now, I have a TOTALLY good reason for reusing panels this week. You see, there was this work thing…and then there was this other work thing…and then there was this baseball game, which was actually a doubleheader…and then…there was yet another work thing…well, you get the idea.

See?? Totally reasonable. If I was a rich and wealthy cartoonist whose adoring fans paid him for his creativity on a salary-like basis, then obviously we wouldn’t need to be reusing panels now would we? WOULD WE?!?

Yeah. So think about THAT.

The post Reusing Panels appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

I am not in town. And in case you missed it, I updated 5 days a week last month. That was pretty flippin’ awesome of me. I’m not in town this week to do a comic strip, so you get this: an informative list of things that maybe you didn’t know about Raccoon Toons.

1. This is the second time I have done a list of this sort. The first list of 29 interesting things was done last June and can be read here.

2. Raccoon Toons readers cover a large range of demographics, but the largest portion seem to be between the ages of 25-35. I find that interesting because I’m always trying hard to keep everything appropriate for all ages.

3. While we’re on the subject of readers, I’ve discovered that Raccoon Toons has 3 different groups of readers: Readers who come just for the comic strips, readers who come just for the blog writings, and readers who come for both. (The last group is my favorite. Shhhh….don’t tell the other groups. They’ll take it the wrong way.)

4. I have a constant battle with myself over how personal I want this website to become. I also have a constant battle with myself over how many Red Vines I can eat in one sitting, but that’s a different matter entirely.

5. As I’ve stated before, when comic strips update, they always update at 12:29am California time. It always makes me feel bad when I see people looking on the website for the new update at 12:26am, and I want to yell at them to wait just a few more minutes. I’m looking at you, Ohio.

6. Some of my readers are lazy. They only come to the site when the updates hit the Twitter or Facebook feeds, which I don’t usually update until at least 10:30am because that’s when those feeds are at their peak internet traffic. Want the updates immediately? Check the site at 12:29am, or subscribe to the emails or RSS feed.

7. I do have a Google+ account, that also publishes my comic strips. For those who are so inclined.

8. Speaking of social media, did you know you can also follow the site through Blogger? Yup. Just add the URL (http://www.raccoontoons.com/comics) to your Blogger feed or import it from Google Reader.

9. In the past year or so I redesigned the raccoons somewhat, trying hard to focus on the simple reoccurring shapes. The result was a younger, more vibrant set of characters, which I’m very happy with.

10. For the most part, I keep all my comic strips and storylines to myself before running them on the site. But I do have a couple of close confidants that I occasionally get feedback from before I run them.

11. Michael started wearing an orange shirt a while back because I felt the strip needed more color and contrast between characters. I felt orange fit his personality best.

12. I’m a pretty private person. As a result, the people who regularly read my work, probably know me best.

13. Nothing excites me more than when someone discovers I am the author of the comic strip and then they tell me how they’ve been reading my work. In a local town where my cartoons are printed in the paper, it happens every so often and that’s a thrill for me.

14. Each comic strip is drawn in blue pencil, then inked in black ink, then scanned, colored, and lettered in Photoshop. Someday when I have a few extra thousand dollars lying around, I’d love to skip the paper and scanning and use one of these bad boys.

15. One of the most challenging things I have to work with is the height difference between Matt and the raccoons.

16. I have stacks and stacks of the original comic strips inked onto bristol board paper, and I have no idea what to do with them, except stack them in my closet.

17. I used to never do color strips because they took too much time. Now I’ve gotten pretty fast at coloring and I won’t do strips without it because they look so much more alive.

18. “Useless Fruit Smashing Day” was created by my little brother, and is a day to remember my father and his life.

19. January has been selected a few times to update comics strips more than once a week, because I can typically draw a lot of them over the holiday vacations prior.

20. My roommates sometimes ask if anything they do will ever end up in a comic strip. I told them that it seems unlikely to happen until one of us moves out, at which point it becomes very likely.

21. Sometimes I think I can multitask and draw or ink cartoons while watching television. I can’t.

22. The past year or two I have been trying to further develop the characters and personalities of my cartoons more. I’m pleased with the progress that has been made. I am especially proud of the character Wendy has become. When I first started with her she really didn’t have much of a personality. Now she’s probably the strongest and most complex character of them all. I wonder if that is why my reader demographics as of late lean slightly more to females.

23. I find that I can often find traces of myself in any character that appears in my comic strip.

24. Matt is always reading a newspaper, even though no one reads newspapers anymore. It’s probably because he’s old, or maybe I’m just a little old fashioned that way.

25. I’m very pleased with how much the site has grown in number of readers. But sometimes I grow impatient and I wish it would grow faster. Grow faster dang-it!

26. It’s harder to come up with twenty-nine things than one would think.

27. Most of the random extra human characters that appear in various comic strips, are often based off of the physical appearances of people I actually know, although I rarely ever tell them of that fact.

28. San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson once appeared in one of my comic strips. I’m not going to link to it. You’ll just have to find him yourself. Pretend it’s a game of “Where’s Waldo?”

29. I’d do this anyway, even if no one was reading it. But it sure is nice to see the stats grow from the hundreds to the thousands and to read comments and get emails from people who do enjoy reading my work. Thanks for stopping by. Thanks for reading me.

The post Another 29 Things You Didn’t Know About Raccoon Toons appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

Happy 2012! It’s time once again for our “Who Wants to Be in a Comic Strip?” contest!! Are YOU ready to be internet-famous?!?!

All month long Raccoon Toons will be updated FIVE days a week!! Let me reiterate that again for literary emphasis. All month long Raccoon Toons will be updated FIVE DAYS A WEEK! That is a ridiculous amount of comic strips for YOU, all my favorite people! This is how much I love you. How sweet is that?!?

During this month-long span of comicky goodness, you have the opportunity to enter our “Who Wants to Be In a Comic Strip?” contest!! The winner will be featured in a future Raccoon Toons comic strip thus becoming the envy of all their friends!! To enter the contest, follow the super easy steps below:

1. You must subscribe to or follow Raccoon Toons in some capacity. You can do so by “liking” us on facebook, by following us on Twitter, or (for people who aren’t social) by subscribing to the website through RSS feeds or email. Pick one or all. I’ve made it really easy for you. The Facebook and Twitter buttons are to the right of this post, and the RSS/email button is right under the comic strip with the words “subscribe.” Do it. Do it now.

2. Now comes the fun part. You must share your FAVORITE post with the world. It can be your favorite comic strip, or a favorite blog post, or even one of the animated cartoons or movies. Doesn’t matter. But it needs to be your favorite. So dig through the archives and find something that means more to you than all of the other internet cartoons combined, and share your undying love and devotion for that particular post with the world. Ok, that sounds a little creepy now that I re-read that. Just pick your favorite, and share it, tweet it, email it, etc. You can share more than one. It’s ok. Honest. Go crazy.

3. Once you have shared your favorite you need to LET ME KNOW. This step is critical. Leave a comment somewhere on the site or in Facebook-land telling me what you shared. Send me an email. Send me a postcard. Whatever. Just tell me. I cannot enter your name in the contest if you don’t tell me what you shared and how.

4. You can alternatively enter the contest by instead making a donation to the website. I totally accept money. Yup. Go for it.

5. Eat a cookie. I thought about changing this rule from last year and swapping out the cookie for something else, but cookies are just really awesome, and there are so many different varieties! So go eat a cookie. Seriously. You deserve it.

That’s it! So easy! The winner will be chosen at random and will be drawn into a future comic strip! To sweeten the pot this year, the winner will also receive a signed print of their favorite comic strip! YES!! So choose wisely!!

So get started!! You have until Feb. 1st!! Good luck to all of you!!

The post Comic Strip Contest 2012 appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

I’m late. I know. I’m sorry. But considering how much work I have on my plate right now you should be very happy you get a comic strip this week. You’re so lucky. So special. I must really care about you. Almost as much as my collection of Chili’s coasters. But nowhere near as much as my collection of soda tabs. Somewhere in between. That is how much I love you. Internet hug.

So this comic strip has pretty much been my week. I have a ton of work that came my way, which is great, but it’s been keeping me really, really busy. But no worries. I’m still here. In between my teaching and my huge workloads of video editing and videography I’ll always manage to squeak in a weekly comic strip. I won’t become one of those cartoonists who hook you with decent cartoons, only to ultimately leave you and the cartoon world desolate and comic-less. No. I will remain. I will persevere. I will not make my world empty, barren, and fan-less.

So once again, sorry I’m late. But no worries. I still love you.

The post Eternal Projects appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

By the time you are reading this, I will be in a car driving across state lines. My brother got married, and I’ll be driving him and his new wife back to their college town. As a result of all that wedded bliss, there is no new comic strip today. However, you will notice some really awesome guest art done by HUGE Raccoon Toons fan, Gabriel Reed. Thanks Gabriel for sending me awesome cartoons! Keep ‘em coming!

With no comic strip today, I have no real topic to write and vent about. So here is a list of 29 things that you probably didn’t know about Raccoon Toons.

1. Michael and Wendy Raccoon were first drawn back in 1991. But they weren’t the only raccoons drawn that day. There was a wild and crazy “Oggie Raccoon,” a nerdy “I.Q. Raccoon” and later, a young detective named “M.T. Raccoon.”

2. Michael has two younger brothers. Deke, who is often cynical and negative, and Todd who doesn’t do much other than play video games.

3. When I was a kid and started creating stories and characters, Michael’s best friend was a rooster named “Funky.” Yup. “Funky Rooster.” I thought it had a nice ring to it. It wasn’t until later that I finally realized it rhymed with “Punky Brewster.”

4. It wasn’t until I started developing the comic strip and the website that I decided to put the raccoons into a human world with Matt. I thought doing so would provide a more interesting dynamic, and I didn’t want to be a guy who only drew a bunch of talking animals.

5. The original comic strip and website was called “Matt & Michael.” I changed it because as other characters developed I felt the title didn’t fit anymore. The facebook fan page still uses the old name because facebook is lame and won’t let me change it.

6. I usually create broad story lines well in advance. Sometimes I have comic strips done well ahead of time, but usually they are created just a couple days before they are published online.

7. Comic strips are published every Wednesday morning at 12:29am, California time.

8. I have a little black notepad in which I write down ideas. I have sections for comic strips, sections for animated cartoons, and sections for things to write about. I’m getting better about keeping it with me.

9. About 80% of the comic strips I do come from observations or experiences from my life or the lives of people I know. 5% are just totally random ideas. The other 15% are also based on real life, I just lie about it so as not to embarrass myself or anyone else. Unless of course I’m TRYING to embarrass them.

10. I broke up Michael and Wendy’s relationship in February 2009 with the intention of getting them back together by Valentines Day. But Wendy became so much more of a individual during that time that I decided to keep her single longer than I anticipated. Let that be a lesson to you young ladies. Don’t let your relationships define you. I’m not telling what the future holds for the two of them.

11. Wendy holds characteristics of many women I have known throughout my life, but is not based on one specifically.

12. Everyone thinks that Matt is just me in comic strip form. But he’s a little more negative and anxiety prone than I am. Really Matt is a manifestation of our struggles to become a successful adult and meet our responsibilities. Michael is our inner carefree youth trying desperately to put off the boring responsible life for the undisciplined and appealing life of pre-adulthood. That’s why Matt is often influenced by Michael. It’s a comic strip about not wanting to grow up. Yeah. I just blew your mind.

13. The number of visitors and readers has really increased over the past year. I keep pretty close tabs on the number of visits and page views to my website. This is especially useful when random girls facebook stalk me and then claim to love my cartoons, without actually having read any.

14. The comic strips don’t generate a whole lot of income, but they do create more than enough to pay for the costs of owning and operating a website, and that’s pretty awesome.

15. I would make this my full time job in a heartbeat.

16. The first version of this website was built in 2003. It was pretty awful. It’s slowly improved over the years. I do it all myself, which is why things go drastically wrong on occasion.

17. I really should be a better artist than I am, and am often embarrassed by my poor artwork.

18. Creating a comic strip takes anywhere from 3-6 hours depending on how quickly things fall into place.

19. If you look closely, every comic strip is signed. There are also occasionally hidden messages or themes in my comic strips. Many times they are written in Matt’s newspapers, but that isn’t always the case. The number 29 is also a reoccurring theme.

20. The early versions of Michael had him without pants or shirts. But I thought it was weird that my other characters were clothed. So now Michael wears pants. He’s a long pants man.

21. Michael drives a blue Datsun 280Z. And it’s awesome, and I’m jealous.

22. My characters are all avid San Francisco Giants fans. But that’s probably pretty obvious.

23. My favorite part of creating comic strips is doing the shading. I find it very relaxing.

24. To date, there are close to 260 comic strips on this site. There are about 20-25 early comic strips that I removed from the site because I was dissatisfied with their stories. Basically I did a retcon. The remaining parts of those story lines still exist in the category titled “Really Old.”

25. I can’t write dialogue for comic strips while listening to any kind of music that has lyrics.

26. I enjoy doing holiday cartoons, particularly Halloween, so I can dress my characters in costumes.

27. I want to do more animated cartoons on the website, and I’m trying to move in that direction.

28. I started writing these blog posts below the comic strips because they generate more search engine traffic and are additional content for readers. I’ve come to really enjoy writing them, and often look forward to it.

29. More than anything, creating this little world is a great outlet for me, and the characters mean a lot to me. I am genuinely appreciative of those of you who come back again and again to let me share them with you.

The post 29 Things You Didn’t Know About Raccoon Toons appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

Hey readers and fans! Raccoon Toons has been entered into a comic strip contest over at thecartooniststudio.com. The contest is ongoing, and the winner receives a syndication deal to have their comic strips printed in newspapers across the country! There’s some great talent in the contest, and I’m not expecting to win, but I would like to make a decent showing!

You must register with the site to vote, but it is easy, fast, and FREE. You just need an email address. Once registered you can vote EVERY SIX HOURS! You might find some other comic strips that you like while you’re there!

So get out there and vote! I sure appreciate your support! (Especially since the site won’t allow me to vote for myself…)

The post Cartoon Contest! appeared first on Raccoon Toons.

Yes! YOU have a chance to be featured in an actual Raccoon Toons comic strip! I’m totally serious! One of you will be drawn into and featured in a comic strip! How cool is that?! Just follow these handy dandy instructions and you’ll be well on your way to bragging rights and internet stardom!

1. If you’re on facebook, be a REAL fan and “like” us on facebook. You can go to the fan page by clicking this link or by hitting the “facebook” button to the right of this post. Don’t be misled by the title of our fan page. It’s still using the old name of the website (www.mattandmichael.com) because facebook is lame and won’t let me change it. Believe me. I’ve tried. It annoys me to no end. And I’ve let them know about it. Repeatedly.

Not a facebook user? There’s also a Twitter button and a YouTube button to the right of this post as well. We like to cover our bases.

2. This is the important part. You need to share your favorite comic strip post with your friends. Doesn’t matter how. You can broadcast it into facebook land, do some tweetage, email it to a friend, or sit your grandmother down in front of the “kuhm-pyoo-ter” and show it to her yourself. But it HAS to be your favorite. I don’t want you to just choose the latest comic strip on the page. Look through the archives. Go way back if you have to. Find your favorite. Something that speaks to your soul. Share it with people you really care about. Boom. That’s it. Easy.

3. Once you have shared your favorite (or favorites) with your friends (I assume you have more than one friend because my readers are all smart, fun, good-looking, and delightful people), let me know how you shared it. Leave a comment on the website, or on the facebook fan page, or send me an email. I don’t care how you let me know, but I can’t enter your name into the drawing if you don’t let me know. So let me know.

4. For those of you who have some strange internet form of Social Anxiety Disorder and can’t fathom the idea of sharing something with some of your friends, you can also be entered into this promotion by making a donation to the website.

5. Eat a cookie. This part is non-negotiable. Seriously. Eat a cookie. You deserve it.

That’s it! That’s all there is to it! You have until the end of January. After that, I will choose a name at random and this person WILL be drawn and featured in an upcoming Raccoon Toons comic strip. What! Good luck to you all. We’re all counting on you.

The post Want To Be In A Comic Strip? appeared first on Raccoon Toons.