Link here is to my creator profile page! Looks great! They're missing the Classic Comics Collection Vol 3 and the Classic Comics Collection 3-in-1 books on my profile page, but they're on the site and part of the sitewide sale!
https://papercutz.com/creators/scott-neely/
#papercutz #madcavestudios
Cover artwork I did for the Phineas and Ferb OGN that is finally coming out next month... though it seems to be more appropriate for the month of October! More on the cover art and all the behind-the-scenes drama soon...
Did not post much this past month as I was busy and had several things to get done in October... Will have much more soon!
Here is a larger version of the final cover art for the NEW Phineas and Ferb: Comic Book Inator I did for Papercutz/Mad Cave Studios! The lead story in it was originally slated to be a "Free Comic Book Day" comic back in May, but it didn't happen. So they merged the final comic with a bunch of classic P&F comics and worked a new deal for it to be released as a Scholastic Exclusive! You can order it directly from Scholastic.com!
More to come as I will be doing a long blog post about it's creation! Plus, the original comic art will be up for sale! No AI here, it was all done by hand on paper, baby!
Scholastic:DisneyTVAnimation.com posted the news about the NEW release of the Phineas and Ferb: Comic Book Inator that is NOW available, which features new cover art by me! A long post about the new cover will be forthcoming on my blog soon.
Official Link:
I was checking to see if Capstone Publishing was going to release another box set of my Scooby-Doo "You Choose" books this year, and I ran across another box set available in Australia and New Zealand!
Apparently, Capstone scored a deal with Scholastic Australia and they released several Scooby items I worked on! Above is the box art for a 4-book "You Choose" paperback set that was released in 2021! It's still out there and still available, even in the U.S.! It's even on eBay! Copy and paste the official title below and you'll see it pop up all over!
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Scooby-Doo!: You Choose Mystery 4-Book Library (Warner Bros.)
Description:
Dive into the world of mystery and adventure with the Scooby-Doo!: You Choose Mystery Library from Warner Bros! This engaging 4-book box set, perfect for young mystery fans, brings the beloved Mystery Inc. gang to life, allowing your child to play detective in classic Scooby-Doo style. With stories like 'The Fright at Zombie Farm', 'The Ghost of the Bermuda Triangle', 'The House on Spooky Street', and 'The Mystery of the Maze Monster', kids can explore their choices and influence the outcome of each spine-chilling mystery.
Created by Scholastic Australia, this interactive reading experience is ideal for reluctant readers and Scooby-Doo enthusiasts alike. The unique format of these choose-your-own-adventure stories encourages creativity and critical thinking as readers follow clues or opt for a snack alongside Scooby and Shaggy. Not only does this box set enhance reading skills, but it also sparks imagination, making it a delightful addition to any children's book collection.
Each title in this mystery library is filled with colorful illustrations that add to the excitement of solving mysteries. 'The Fright at Zombie Farm' promises thrilling encounters with the undead, while 'The Ghost of the Bermuda Triangle' dives into nautical legends. 'The House on Spooky Street' and 'The Mystery of the Maze Monster' ensure that mystery lovers are captivated until the last page.
Join Scooby-Doo and the gang for a spine-tingling adventure where every choice you make could lead to a new discovery. Bring home the Scooby-Doo!: You Choose Mystery Library for hours of interactive fun! Get ready to solve puzzles, overcome challenges, and most importantly, enjoy reading!
CONDITION: Brand New
ISBN: 9781761123825
Publisher: SCHOLASTIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
Site Links:
https://smartfoxbooks.co.nz/products/scooby-doo-you-choose-mystery-library-warner-bros
I first learned about it live on the Scooby Addicts podcast in my interview with hosts Nikki and Wendy... and I was initially shocked by the news. There are rumblings on forums (there always are) but I can't say that I'm totally surprised by it either. I have worked off-and-on these books over the past 20 years (mostly on Scooby though).
These beloved characters are in a weird zone right now (I am including Tom & Jerry in this mess as well). This is not something that just happened overnight. It's been a slow crawl to limbo.
When I learned that there was no new Scooby comic scheduled to come out, my first thought was that it was getting cancelled so that they could restart fresh with a new #1 issue.
I remember when they did this the last time and I expressed my dismay to my editor at the time about DC doing it. He commiserated with me, but what can you do? I've always hated disrupting the numbering system of a comic series just to get a "fresh start." I don't mind long runs of books but the industry has been doing this crap for ten years now. Amazing Spider-Man is incredibly hard to follow in terms of what to read and in what order. I can see a new reader saying the hell with it.
The first notion that something was amiss was when DC cancelled the Scooby-Doo comic in 2009-10 and then moved it to DC's imprint called Wildstorm who would then produce it. That was flat out weird! It seemed like they were finally ready to dismiss it and push it off to the side and say, "Yes, we produce this... but we don't like to talk about it."
Now this makes me laugh... as it was a deep, dark secret that in terms of actual press runs, Scooby-Doo was the biggest press run that DC had each month. Even over Batman and Superman, Scooby-Doo reigned. This is fact. I learned that from several of my editors over the years. DC never liked to acknowledged that publicly though. From 2015 to now, I don't know what the press run numbers were. A lot of things changed after the pandemic.
As they were winding down the previous comic series titled Scooby-Doo, they were already working on the new monthly series titled Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?. I think there was a month or two off before the new series started up and I wasn't informed about it until the first one was pretty much ready to launch. In fact, I was working on a comic for one of the final issues of Scooby-Doo when the editor finally told me about the new series. They had the first two issues already done in the can to get a jump start on it. I started working on the new series with issue #5. Scott Peterson was the new editor, and things continued along just fine.
Somewhere during the run, they stopped producing two new 10-page comic stories for each issue. It then became the standard to do just one new comic and then reprint an old one to fill the second spot. Both Looney Tunes and Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? started doing this around the same time. I don't fault them for this as I understand the economics of it, but it was now less work for the creative talent who produced the stuff.
Some years later, they stopped publishing monthly and went to a bi-monthly schedule for both series. As a creative, this was not good news as it meant less work. They rotated each issue's art team so everyone would get some work. I like that they did that, but we were now down to only 6 issues per year instead of 12.
Then we got the Scooby-Doo Team-Up comics... like throwing baloney at the wall to see what would stick, they teamed Scooby up with anyone and everyone whether it made sense or not! Scooby-Doo and Batman made the most sense and would please a lot of fans. They should have done it years before, but they weren't allowed to. Don't ask. All this fun lasted several years, but even those got played out. The Scooby-Doo/Batman comics ended last year. At least, it kept the creative talent working though.
Looney Tunes disappeared in late fall of '24, and then in early 2025, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? mysteriously fell off the schedule. Since they were both bi-monthly books, people didn't notice right away. However, when eagle-eyed fans didn't see any new Scooby comic solicitations for the month of April, people started putting two and two together.
The mystery continues...
Right now, the only thing DC has coming out for Scooby-Doo is the complete series omnibus for Scooby Apocalypse. It comes out in September.
Currently, there are NO new publishing plans for Scooby-Doo material anywhere. I mean anywhere. I was initially told this by WB in 2019 (I've still got the email) and I've inquired at several places recently, and it's still in the same limbo.
Did Scooby-Doo fall out of favor with kids? I don't know that either.
Kids don't read monthly comics and they prefer graphic novel formats. That's if they even read to begin with... which is another matter. The Scooby/Looney Tunes comic readers I've met were mostly older readers who grew up with it.
Well, we still have the animated stuff! Oh, wait...
Yep, it wasn't good news when they stopped production of the Direct-to-DVD movies for both Scooby-Doo and Tom & Jerry a few years ago. They had been reliable mainstays and were great as a branding tool in keeping the characters in the public eye. Sadly, most of the people I knew who worked on them are still looking for new work as the animation industry sits spinning in turmoil.
Currently, the pulling of content from the streaming services is also concerning... It makes you wonder what is going on? It certainly makes you happy if you bought it all on DVD and still have them! Physical media may be making a comeback!
My line of thinking at this point is that the suits at WB, or the head person I won't name, doesn't seem to care much about this material in general. I would think it's a license to print money, but what do I know. It's gotten to the point where I could honestly see WB selling off both Scooby-Doo and Looney Tunes outright to some other studio.
In terms of comics, could Dynamite Comics get the Scooby or Looney Tunes licenses? It would make sense that they would get first dibs as they are the only ones doing some Hanna-Barbera related stuff currently. I don't see anyone else picking it up... and don't get me started on the non-existent page rates that artists are getting either, which is another whole post I could do!
One more point I'd like to make, as a creative, is this: Could DC have possibly cancelled the comics due to the horrendous approval times that may be involved these days? I've been complaining about this for the past year and how it's bad everywhere. Even working months out ahead of schedule, I wonder if DC's editors ran into approvals that just sat in limbo at WB? I don't know, but it never used to be like this. This is the main concern I have for all aspects of this industry and freelancers right now!
Any thoughts, or if someone else hears something, let me know!
Laying on top of the pad was the drawing of Master Ham-Ham!
I barely remember doing it till I thought about it. It's been a long time since I taught a class. Master Ham-Ham has been sitting for quite a while, but he still looks happy!
If I liked any drawings I did during a class, I would gently tear them out of the pad and place them at the front of the art pad to save them (if I didn't give them to students who requested them, which is what happened most of the time). It had to be from 15 years ago when I taught a class at the Delaware College of Art & Design, which is sadly no longer open.
When I uncovered Master Ham-Ham after all this time, I immediately felt his presence! He's loaded with appeal! Strong lush ink lines that make him pop! I still like him!
I decided to post this as I got some great response from people I showed him to, and to explain where he came from.
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I always thought it was much easier to learn how to do animation character or prop turnarounds based on looking at an actual three-dimensional object or toy. You subconsciously pick up things like construction theory, shape, and form much easier. You can see why decisions were made at a design level because the final design is right in front of you. If you created something out of your head, the front or 3/4 front view would be fine but there would be problems trying to get it to match up when you did the other views. Turnarounds are not easy, and you only get good at doing turnarounds by doing them.
I would bring a box of small toys into class (or one big toy) and let student draw them. Complex toys, simple toys, etc were all fair game. Which brings us to Master Ham-Ham...
I had a Dancing Kung-Fu Fighting Hamster toy made by Gemmy Toys in 2001. You squeezed his hand and it triggered the toy to start spinning his nunchucks and moving while it played the 70s song "Kung-Fu Fighting". It was a cute novelty toy.
After the students did their versions, I would then do my own version so they could watch me. I used gray magic markers to simulate pencils and then a black magic marker to finalize and ink the drawing. This approach still works as I would talk through my thoughts as I did it. My simplified design used the basic character construction that most of the Pokemon characters all had.
The "Warrior of the Round Wheel" tag line came from the fact that I used a round spinning cake stand (or wheel) in class. You place the stand on a stool and let the students sit around the stool in a circle and draw what was on the stand. I'd spin the stand every 15-20 minutes to give them a different view. We worked faster as I wanted them to pick up the main points of doing turns without getting bogged down in details.
For more complex turns, I'd give each student a toy or object and they could hold it in their hand and draw from it close up. It's still a great way to learn!
There are five covers I did that are not on here... 1 Scooby and 4 Cartoon Cartoons are missing. Coincidentally, the books that are not listed here are hanging on the walls of my studio.
Anyway, here's the link and if you click on the "Talent Directory" link at the top of their page, it will show you ALL the creatives who have worked for DC.
https://www.dc.com/talent/scott-neely
Never let a good piece of art go to waste! It's why these corporations love having a huge backlog of material to pull from.
For newer followers, you can see my original post I did way back on May 22, 2012! Check it out here! 13 Spooky Tales Around The World
It's the same art, but eagle-eyed viewers will notice that Fred, Daphne, and Velma were removed to focus on just Scooby and Shaggy. As much love that fans have for the other three, it all comes down to Scooby and Shaggy. Hence, why a lot of my Scooby art focuses on these two characters. It comes down to clarity of the image and how busy a final composition can be by adding too much.
Every aspect of the art for the DVD cover was done on separate layers, so it would be easy to take out the three members of Mystery Inc. with a simple click to three.
It's odd that they left the other stuff on there though... Was there a UFO, Aztec/Mayan temple and stone warrior, etc in Season 3 of the Scooby-Doo & Scrappy-Doo? Maybe I'm reading too much into it. The art is small on the JustWatch site, so I'm guessing it was just used to plug a hole with a visual image.
You can check it out on the JustWatch site, Click here!
Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo Season 3
https://www.checklistinsider.com/fleer-scooby-doo
How was this one different, you ask?
It was was printed in 2011, in Mumbai, by Disney (India)! On the inside cover, it says that it was for sale only in India. Wow! Someone must have traveled to India in 2011 and brought this back to America with them and eventually put it up on eBay. I bought it last week to add to my archive!
Originally, the Mickey Mouse (and Winnie the Pooh) work I did in America had my art credit on all the early printings. This printed copy from Disney (India) still retained my credit on it, which is rare! Usually once it goes back to the company archive they can remove any credit and the work gets thrown in with all the other art (since Disney owns it all anyway). Yes, some artistic credits remain but it varies here and there. Bendon Publishing, who publishes a lot of my older work in America, doesn't give any artistic credit on anything from what I've seen. Hence, why I bought multiple copies of anything I originally did back when the work was first released!
