Chili & Chester

 

My latest Substack post involves some cartoon characters from some time ago. Here, they meet their untimely and somewhat stupid demise. Click here to find out why they died and where they went.

Pipedreams #19

 

I haven't posted a Pipedreams cartoon in awhile, so here is the next one in line that Darin Palmer and myself did many moons ago. This strip was about our time working in a mattress factory. I think that all of the characters were based on actual people, but the names have been changed to protect the guilty. These strips wrote themselves as this one actually happened. 

I do believe, word for word. 

Pipedreams #18

 

Yowza, it been over a year since I've shared one of these old/new (to you) Pipedreams strips that were done by Darin Palmer (story and inks) and myself (story and pencils) back in the olden times of factory work. All of the characters were based on actual people and, of course, the names have been changed to protect the dysfunctional. Some of these strips wrote themselves. 

Well, most, actually. 

Pipedreams #17

 

(click to enlarge)

This is the 17th Pipedreams strip that Darin Palmer and I created quite some time ago. We would often look up at the ceiling office of the plant manager (name somewhat changed to protect the guilty) and think that he must be daydreaming about just what a hero he thought he was. We knew the truth.

Scripted by Darin and I, penciled by me, inks by Darin.

Pipedreams #16

 

I haven't posted one of these in awhile, so here is the 16th strip from a cartoon called Pipedreams that Darin Palmer created way back when, but had never shown. The strip follows the exploits of a collection of factory workers and was based entirely on the dump that we worked for at the time. Most of the names were changed to protect the guilty. Here, Melvin gets caught up in the plant supervisor King Koerber's self admiration. Darin and I wrote these together and I penciled them and he inked them. 

Pipedreams #14

(click on image to make big-like)

The next installment of the Pipedreams strip that I created with my co-conspirator Darin Palmer in our factory days. Melvin may not be doing so well with the ladies. 

Pipedreams #13

(click on image to make bigly)

In this next installment of the Pipedreams strip that I did with fellow creator Darin Palmer many moons ago, we have here Melvin with his little 'friends' trying his best to put the moves of the womenfolk.  It might not be working. 

Keep in mind that these characters are all based on actual people and events, so let that sink in while you try to sleep tonight. 

Pipedreams #12

(click on image to make big-like)

Here is the next strip that was done oh, so many years ago by Darim Palmer (story/inks/colors) and myself (story/pencils). We took a lot of material from the day to day happenings of the factory life that we were enduring and some of these are not too far from the truth. Melvin was smitten with the lady kind quite often. 

Pipedreams #11

(click on image to bigefy)

The time clock. It was menacing and welcoming (at the end of the day), but always loud. Probably a little evil, as well.

This was the 11th installment of the strip that I did with Darin Palmer about life working in a factory. 

Pipedreams #10

(click on image to make bigly)

Here is the 10th installment of the Pipedreams strip that I did with Darin Palmer way back when. Darin did the inks and colors, I penciled them and we both wrote them. It was a fun strip to do.

As you can see, Chili, Chester, and Melvin all have their own viewpoints on how the day starts. If I hadn't stated this before, all of the characters, even the ducks, are based on actual factory rats (and ducks) that worked in that most magical of places. 

Pipedreams #9

This here is the next strip for the cartoon that my coworker/cohort Darin Palmer and I created when we worked for a soul sucking mattress company way back when. The people were based on actual workers, the duck, kind a sort of... We had a whole personalities for the ducks that were nearby. 

Pipedreams #8

Click image to bigify.

This here strip is the next installment of the Pipedreams cartoon that Darin Palmer and I created way back when about working in a factory. It was good therapy. Well, at least there seemed to be no shortage of material to work from. I think that this conversation actually took place at one time.

Pipedreams #7

(click on image to make biggish) 

Here is the 7th installment of the Pipedreams cartoon strip that Darin Palmer and I created way back in our dreadful factory days. The crew arrives in the morning.

The guy that Melvin is modeled after had such a vest type thing, I believe. We were all about believability. 

Pipedreams #6

(click on image to make bigly)

Here is the 6th installment of the comic strip that Darin Palmer and I created way back when we worked in a factory together. The duck pond did exist. The trash in the duck pond did appear, sadly. 

But, we never sat by the pond before work, only at breaks during the day. hell, we could barely get in the door on time without dragging our feet. Do you really think that we would purposely arrive early for any reason? I don't think so.

Pipedreams #5

(click on image to make biggish)

Here we have the next Pipdreams strip that Darin Palmer and I had fun creating back in the 90s as a way to vent our frustrations working in a mattress factory. 

There was a pond next door to where we worked that had an assortment of ducks living there. Sometimes in warmer weather we would take our breaks sitting by the pond watching the ducks. A little oasis in an industrial setting. I think we named the nutty duck Simon, but I'm not too sure on that one. A smoking, stressed out duck just cracked us up.

Pipedreams #4

(click on image to enlargify)

This is the fourth strip that Darin Palmer (story, inks and colors) and I (story and pencils) did years ago about our time in the sexy and glamorous world of mattress making. These three chaps were modeled after actual employees. The truck in the background? A bit exaggerated, but not too much. Apex Bedding was the name that we gave the place, so, you know, to avoid lawsuits and baseball bat beatings and such. 

Pipedreams #2

(click on image to engorge)

Here we have strip #2 of the Pipedreams comic that my friend and fellow artist Darin Palmer created way back when.

The introductions continue and we now have Chester, who is also psyching himself up for the daily grind. Chester was loosely based on myself and I want to say the name came from that line in that song by The Band, 'hey, wait a minute, Chester....' You know the one. As I remember, we liked singing just that particular line, for some reason. Thus, Chester was born.