Celebrating Pokémon Day with this small tribute!

July 21, 1999 - That was the day that I started work on a thing called Pokémon for Golden Books. I had no idea what it was. I didn't do an audition for it either. In hindsight, I guess they were in a real big hurry to get some American product out there as it was blowing up. Pokémon was one of the first major licenses that I worked on over 25 years ago! There was only 150 of them as I recall back then. I still have the Pokémon model sheets that they mailed me back in '99! Pre-internet, kids!

I didn't do much for it though (only three projects, but they were fun to do!) as I was soon asked to do an art audition for Scooby-Doo in the fall of '99, and that completely changed my life and career.  

Today is Pokémon Day (2/27/2025) and the Pokémon Company believes it can last another 50 to 100 years. I would have to agree! It's got a solid, entertaining concept and you can go a long way with solid, entertaining concept.

 

SCOOBY-DOO’S GREATEST MYSTERIES TPB Is Back In Print!

In October 2024, DC Comics released a NEW printing of the Scooby-Doo Greatest Mysteries TPB that I posted about here in 2019 (for Scooby’s 50th Anniversary). It’s back in print and still at a great price! I don’t think it was updated and may be the exact same one that was printed in 2019.

Scooby-Doo and the gang solve mysteries only as they can in their best comic adventures!

Riding around in their Mystery Machine van, Scooby, Daphne, Fred, Velma, and Shaggy team up to solve supernatural cases through a series of hijinks and misadventures. Jinkies!

In this collection the gang takes on everything from spooky ghostly activity to mysterious space alien invasions. They also meet up with beloved Hanna-Barbera characters, like the Flintstones and the Jetsons. They even team with some of DC's finest heroes and villains--including Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Harley Quinn!

Celebrate Scooby-Doo with this compilation of the Mystery Inc. team's greatest cases--over 400 pages of 30 classic stories collected here!

Collects SCOOBY-DOO #1, 10, 35, 68 and 72, SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP #2, 5 7, 8, 9, 12, 18, 37 and 40, and SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? #48, 51, 54, 71, 78, 79, 83, 85

Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Scooby-doos-Greatest-Adventures-John-Rozum/dp/177952790X

B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/scooby-doos-greatest-adventures-john-rozum/1145120862?ean=9781779527905

My 1995 Star Wars Galaxy Trading Card Art was reprinted in 2021!

 

In 2022, I did an interview with Stephen Kent about his book titled How The Force Can Fix The World. I mentioned to him that I did art for a Star Wars trading card back in 1995 for Topps and I’d send him a pic of it. Out of my laziness to find a jpeg on my computer, I went to eBay and did a quick search. A card did indeed pop up and I sat and looked at it stupefied.  

 

That was my card art... but something was different. I then scrolled down and saw a bunch of versions of it too! Not just a base card for the card set but they had all these limited numbered “refractor” variants of it too! It had a new back to it and they did a nice new description of my old work. Thanks, Topps!

 

Upon further research, I found that Topps had picked my artwork for something I did back in 1994 and reprinted it for a new card set in 2021! I knew it was good when I did it back in ‘94. I painstakingly took my time when I did that art as it was my moment in the Star Wars Universe, even though I had drawn some Star Wars material for West End Games (the role-playing game company) around that time.

The original 1994 title for the piece as I named it was “King for a Day.” They renamed it “New Friends” which works too. I must admit that I was, and still am, blown away that they had picked my card out of all the others artists in the 1995 Topps Star Wars Galaxy Series 3 Trading Cards! By the way, I was card #348 originally.

These pics in this post are not mine but from one of the many eBay sellers that are selling the card. If you want one, they are out there! Type in: 2021 Topps Chrome Star Wars Galaxy Base #33 “New Friends” Scott Neely and they should pop up. The base card is cheap, but the refractor cards go for some serious money if you got a low number!

The card set was called the 2021 Topps Chrome Star Wars Galaxy Trading Cards and you can find out more about it here: 

https://www.cardboardconnection.com/2021-topps-chrome-star-wars-galaxy-trading-cards

https://www.beckett.com/news/2021-topps-star-wars-chrome-galaxy/ 

https://www.tcdb.com/Checklist.cfm/sid/265282 

P.S. – I know some of you are asking how I didn’t know about it. Simple, they own the art. I have no rights to it. You signed them all over to Topps/Lucasfilm back when I drew it. I got paid for doing the art, and I got to keep the original artwork for the front and back of the card, and I got 50 singles of my card as a thank you. They don’t have to tell me about what they do with it now or in the future. I wish they would have sent me some of the new base card though! That would have been nice!

P.P.S. – I also sold the original Han Solo card art back in 2019 or so on eBay. I have no idea who owns it now.

 

25 Years of drawing SCOOBY-DOO!

November 21, 2024 marks my 25th Anniversary of drawing Scooby-Doo! Hard to believe! As I write this, I have some Scooby work that is (and has been) sitting in approvals for quite a while (since May 11th) and I can't discuss it yet... but I'll say that I'm excited about it! Hopefully I'll have more to share soon but studio approvals have been really bad of late and things are taking much longer than they should.

My Scooby Story In SCOOBY-DOO 50TH ANNIVERSARY GIANT 100-PAGE Walmart Comic!

I got a new package this week that was waiting at my front door. Again, I was surprised to see that my Scooby artwork was in yet another Scooby-Doo Collection. This one is called the SCOOBY-DOO 50TH ANNIVERSARY GIANT #1 which is a 100-PAGE comic that is sold only at Walmart. There are nine stories in it and I have TWO in the thing. The first story of mine is the one I wrote and drew called "Tiki Taboo Trouble" and the other is a comic I just did the art for (and was for the overseas market) called "I Want My Mummy." Art from a panel of that story is on the cover down at the bottom. Wow! So nine stories filtered from the big 400+page trade and I still made the cut to this version! I guess it's in stores now, I may have got mine early, and it's 100 pages for only $4.99! Cheap by today's standards! From the talk I hear Walmart puts these by the sports trading cards in the front of the store, but I can't confirm it.  But it's out there and it's a #1 issue for all that means. I don't know if they are doing more but I would assume... but who knows.

UPDATE: I found out that they did two versions of this. One is the Mass Market edition that's in Walmart and has this cover with the giant Scooby on it.

 
The other cover, which is below, is the Direct Market version. This is the version that comic book shops would get.

My Art In The SCOOBY-DOO'S GREATEST MYSTERIES Trade Paperback!

Scooby-Doo turned 50 on September 13, 2019 recently and DC Comics put out a massive 400+ page trade paperback "Celebrating 50 Years Of Scooby!" called SCOOBY-DOO'S GREATEST ADVENTURES. They picked a couple stories I did the art for, but the real highlight was that the fourth story in was a story I wrote and drew called "Tiki Taboo Trouble" which is talked about on my blog in older posts. I was, and still am, quite happy with the story so it was nice to see it picked to be in this collection! Someone had good taste at DC Comics. I got my copies back in August from the printer and was not expecting them to show up at my front door. I had no idea that DC was even celebrating Scooby's 50th.

 

HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY, SCOOBY-DOO!

On September 13, 1969, which was 50 years ago today, Scooby-Doo Where Are You? premiered on Saturday morning with the first episode titled "What a Night for a Knight"... and a legend was born! ZOINKS!

 

Capstone Brings Stories With Iconic DC and Scooby-Doo Characters to Amazon Alexa for Families!

Capstone has some new exciting news and three of my "You Choose" Scooby books are involved! Some more Scooby news on his 50th Anniversary this year! 

Capstone, innovative publisher of children’s educational content for home and schools, announces its You Choose Books featuring iconic DC Super Heroes and Scooby-Doo™ characters, developed in partnership with Warner Bros. Consumer Products, are available on Alexa-enabled devices. Part of a larger rollout of You Choose Adventures titles, the project includes 15 titles for ages 8-12, grouped into four story bundles: Justice League Adventures, Superman Adventures, Batman Adventures, and Scooby-Doo Mysteries. Families looking for children-friendly content on Alexa will experience interactive audio storytelling with fast-paced, energetic adventures featuring a cast of characters kids love.  

Titles in the reader-driven You Choose format feature action-packed, interactive stories with multiple story paths to keep children reading. With simple voice commands, Alexa users will help the Justice League™, Superman™, Batman™, and Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. gang foil schemes and misdeeds. With multiple endings, You Choose Adventures represent the best in immersive, educational storytelling with an interactive, audio-only experience.

“Capstone is thrilled to partner with Warner Bros. to bring such iconic DC Super Heroes and animated characters to the Alexa voice-activated platform. New listeners will be introduced to some of the world’s greatest Super Heroes and current fans will discover a new venue for listening and interacting with their favorite characters. Empowering kids to control where the story goes, along with multiple story paths and endings, You Choose Adventures on Alexa offers endless opportunities for repeat play and are truly a dynamic, immersive experience,” said Tom Ahern, Capstone CEO.

Full link to the story on their site!

https://www.capstonepub.com/news/capstone-brings-stories-iconic-dc-and-scooby-doo-characters-amazon-alexa-families 

 

 

SCOOBY-DOO - My Capstone Work... Thus Far...

Here's a pic I made of all the Scooby-Doo books I've worked on in the last three and a half years for Capstone Publishing starting in spring of 2013. 28 in all so far have my work in them. Looks more impressive this way (If you right-click on the pic and open it in a new window, you can get the bigger version to zoom in on!).  

SCOOBY-DOO - Capstone Final Covers

My previous post showed the cover art I turned in, and these are the way they will be printed I learned today from jpegs of the final covers. As you can see, a big change is they changed the color of my kitchen to a cool gray color instead. I assume so that the characters pop more. Eh. I kinda like mine more as it's a warmer feeling. Cool colors leaves it feeling cooler naturally. I usually like warmer color tones myself.

This also helps when people ask me about what I'm doing currently and it's hard to say sometimes as things change like titles and the art go through many tweaks to the final deal. I know what I turn in and am sometimes surprised when I see the final version. So I'm glad I have my blog where I can show it that way I liked it and you can decide.

Scooby-Doo - Two New Covers For Capstone!

Here's two new covers for two books I wrapped up back in March for Capstone. These are for a different series of books that deal with learning. One is a Math book which deals with estimation and the other deals with time and telling time. Have no idea when they will be out but here's the covers that are free from all the logos and titles that cover up 80% of the art. I think the covers came out cool as they pop with color.

SCOOBY-DOO Cover Art For Books 13 And 14!

Here are the two new covers to the Scooby-Doo You Choose series for Capstone. These are Books 13 and 14 and are being worked on now. The roughs were finally approved this week for the interior art so it moves to the inking and coloring phase. I guess they should be out early next year as far as I know but that could change. I think they came out pretty colorful and you can see them here free of all the logos and titles.

SCOOBY-DOO Comic Chapter Books Cover Art!

These are the final covers for a NEW series of Scooby-Doo books from Capstone! These are kind of like the Scooby-Doo You Choose books though instead of a single page illustration we now have a full panel comic page to help tell the story. I would post the titles for the books but I think the titles of the stories changed from what I had on the manuscripts. That happens most of the time once the books are done and they tighten things up. These covers were also done differently than I did the others in that I had to do all the elements separately meaning I have the Hero Art on one layer, then the white comic panel gutters on another, and then the three comic panels under that on separate layers or all on one layer. Working in layers makes it easier to shimmy things around if we need to. There are 4 books and I believe they will be out in the fall of this year. I started them in mid-October of last year and finished them mid-February and it was a tight deadline to get them all done on time so that's why I was busy and not posting. I think they came out cool and colorful!

As I was finishing these books up I found out that Capstone is doing yet another Two Scooby You Choose books! So I should be starting work on Books 13 and 14 on in another month! I have one cover roughed out and am awaiting art direction on the other.

SCOOBY-DOO Cover Art For Books 11 And 12!

Well, these are sure late in being posted. Yes, I'm still here. Just been busy was not feeling inspired to post anything and noticed that it's been a full year since Alfie passed. The time flew for me here but I've been busy! I forgot to post these covers as these two books have been out for a while now but here you can see the full art for Scooby-Doo You Choose Books 11 and 12!