More Bucking Buckers Plus The Triple B Album Cover for The Double Z Top Dude

 June 30, 2026

   As promised, here are a few more bucking buckers for your consideration. . .

More Buku Buckers

Daily Whip Out: "Bucker Out of The Box "

          Daily Whip Out: "Sidewinder Bucker"

Daily Whip Out: "Dust Buster 13"

Daily Whip Out: "Bucker From Muscogee"

Ed Note: Buku (also spelled bookoo) is slang for the French "beaucoup" which means "much" or "many" which makes the More in the above headline redundant. But, hey, it sounded buku groovy. So sue me.

The Triple B album cover for the

Double Z Top Dude

“In Texas there’s still a little of that gunslinger mentality in the air.”

—Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top

Vacation Homes vs. Bronc Riders Galore

 June 29, 2026

   I have several neighbors who own second homes in cooler climes and they are there now gloating, no doubt, about the rest of us roasting our rear ends off in the triple digit heat. However, to me there has always been a certain turn off about owning another property and I think this mock headline says it all:

Family Buys Lake Cabin So They Can Spend Their Vacations Fixing Things Too

   Meanwhile, I have been spending some quality time noodling bucking broncos for a certain Arizona rodeo poster contest. Thought I would throw my, ahem, hat into the ring, as it were.

Daily Whip Out: "Red Sky Bucker"

Daily Whip Out: "Rodeo On The Ridgeline"

Daily Whip Out: "Rodeo Arena Bucker"

   I got another six or seven where those came from. I'll post 'em when they are ready.

The Crack of Dawn Reprise

   And, here's a sneak peek at what Rebecca Edwards has designed for the next installment of Borderline Advice, Old Vaquero Sayings, Part V:

Lone Kitchen Lights Across The West

   And, believe it or not, I have another two Lone Kitchen Light scenes on the drawing board. Here's a rough of one of them:

Daily Whip Out:

"Lone Kitchen Light In The Village"

   The concept being, it's not just houses out in the middle of nowhere that come alive when mama wakes up. But you knew that after seeing the first one!

   Tomorrow, the last place you would want to see a lone kitchen light.

“If people only knew as much about painting as I do, they would never buy my paintings.”

—Sir Edwin Henry Landseer

Hellscape Riders Meet A Lone Kitchen Light On The Way to Tent Town

 June 28, 2026

   If you haven't noticed by now, there's one theme I keep coming back to and that is horseback riders in hell. Yes, the hellscape theme shows up quite a bit in my whip outs, from Billy to Jesse to Mickey Free. And back.

Daily Whip Out: "Jesse In Hell"

   Perhaps it's because the theme emulates the ultimate road trip to me, or, perhaps, being a lapsed Lutheran, it somehow unmasks a deep-seated fear of being on a highway to hell? Which would explain my love for that song.

Daily Whip Out:

"Mickey Skirts The Fireline"

   So, this morning was no exception as I captured a certain cowboy in hell riding the burning range. . .

Daily Whip Out: "Hellscape Rider II"

(Curly Bill's Long Ride?)

   Then again, I am a scene sucker for the remote mining camp, something I grew up seeing over and over in Mohave County.

Daily Whip Out:

"On The Way to Tent Town"

   Speaking of magical journeys, yesterday my grandson and Uno and I set off on a walk up to Morningstar and on the way back, I got this shot of Fenton and Uno next to a big twin saguaro I pass every day.

   When I got back to the studio I was inspired to add a saguaro to the foreground of my most recent Lone Kitchen Light scene, and guess where I got my inspiration for that?

The Lone Adobe Kitchen Light #3

Thailand Cowkids

   Both of T. Bell's kids are in the house and they each chose cowboy hats off the walls of my studio and their grandmother bought them used cowboy boots, and here they are racked out in all their Cactusland glory.

Harper & Fenton Wall Flowers

(yes, that is Grandpa Ha Ha's doofus shadow at bottom, right)

Proof That T-Bell Is My Son

   And, of course, my son went to a used bookstore down on Camelback Road yesterday and brought home about 40 used books, and one of them had this inspiring quote:

"My whole work drive has been aimed at making people understand each other."

—John Steinbeck

A Big Bad Jack, A Head Hunting Rider And A Very Happy Ending—Say What?!

 June 27, 2026

   Has there ever been a Western where the hero rides a Big Bad Jack?

Daily Whip Out:

"Mickey Free On His Big Bad Jack"

   Get ready for one.

   True, Mickey and his Big Bad Jack had their moments of conflict and agitation. . .

Mickey And Big Bad Jack's Morning Ritual

   And, it must be noted, Mickey was notorious for getting to the point in an argument.

   And, apparently, he didn't limit the head bagging to his friends.

Mickey Unbags Another Head, exhibit #13

   I know what you're thinking. Is it even possible such a dark story could have a happy ending? Well, as far as historical facts go, it actually did.

One Proud Father

Mickey and his daughter Fannie Free

   Our incredibly true story is what happens in between.

"A happy ending is when people still love you in spite of what you did."

—Old Vaquero Saying

The Real Reasons Custer Failed at The Little Bighorn

 June 27, 2026

   Several have asked me why I didn't mention the anniversary of the Little Bighorn debacle in my blog yesterday and the answer is because I tapped out that subject in a previous post and YouTube video. 

Custer Is Not Amused

   In case you missed it, here it is:

The Bizarre and Crazy Details That Led to Custer's Demise at The Little Bighorn

Cave Fellers & Grid Grinders & Truth Tellers

 June 26, 2026

   If I had to sum up my professional journey in eighteen images, this would come close to capturing the whole shootin' match.

My Life On An 18 Frame Grid

   Yes, this is simply a screen grab off of Facebook, that shows my recent posting history via images and as I glanced at it, I thought to myself, Damn, that pretty much sums up who I am, right there. In fact, I would make the claim that it tells a more accurate story of who I am beyond all the yakking I do in here. Of course, I love graphic narrative and this is telling. I have a theory, being, if you look closely at the above grid it starts to tell a story on its own. In short, it's a pure graphic narrative with a theme and everything. In fact, some of the images that speak the loudest are not representational. You know, like this:

Daily Whip Out: "BBB Raw 2.5"

Which brings us back to the lone kitchen light.

Daily Whip Out: "The Lone Kitchen Light"

   As mentioned yesterday, this simple abode works well, but, if we're illustrating an Old Vaquero Saying, it wants to be a tad more Southwestern, perhaps even adobe. . .

Daily Whip Out:

"The Lone Adobe Kitchen Light, Part III"

   Just this morning I found a family from Thailand roaming around in the cave that Cave Creek is named for. They agreed to let me take their photo. but, frankly, I didn't want to get too close.

Thailand Cave Dwellers

   As it turns out, two of the family members are quite talented artists, so I gave them an art lesson in my studio.

Natural Born Artists

   Both Harper and Fenton do quite well with the gouache-wash technique so I merely try to stay out of their way.

Poached Onion Headline

Area Man Holding Out Hope Job Interviewer Will Ask Him How Much He Knows About 'Tombstone'

“Nobody is more full of it than those who think only they can speak the truth about the past.”

—Old Vaquero Saying

The Real Value of True West

 June 25, 2026

   I was pleasantly surprised by the many positive responses to my painting of The Lone Kitchen Light. However, it got me to thinking, in terms of an old vaquero saying perhaps the illustration should be a tad more adobe than the mountain cabin I portrayed earlier?

Daily Reworked Whip Out:

"Lone Adobe Kitchen Light"

"All houses are dark until the mother wakes up."

—Old Vaquero Saying   

   I've been encouraged by friends in Payson to submit a rodeo poster concept so I've been having fun doing a few broncs after breakfast. Yes, that is a riff on the title to one of Charlie Russell's best paintings. Here is just one of the sketch ideas I am pursuing.

Daily Whip Out: "Red Sky Bucker"

   Ken and I have been talking to several parties about taking over the True West brand and if waxing poetically has anything to do with the proposal, I believe this guy takes the cake.

   "True West has greater gist and substance than simply as a media property.  True West embodies the passion of thousands who value Western history and lore. Forgive the waxing poetic, but property can be bought and sold; the passion of your readers cannot."  

—Dan Williams, TCU Press

"Misfortunes one can endure. But to suffer for one's own faults? Ah! There is the sting of life."
—Oscar Wilde

The Doper Roper Lives Up to His Name

 June 24, 2026

   As promised, here's an action sequence from the Doper Roper in the last issue of the Razz (1976).

   The set up is that our cranky cowboy, Granthum P. Hooker and his ol' lady, Ida Mae, get a little frisky after a jackpot roping and, afterwards spot a WWII airplane landing on a dry lake (obviously Red Lake north of Kingman) where a group of hippie drug smugglers are unloading a shipment of drugs from Mexico. D-R deftly uses bailing wire to strap on foot holds on the hood of his ancient pickup so he can lean out and do his job. And with Ida Mae driving, we pick up the action from there.

   A very ambitious action sequence, but I am proud to say it still tracks. Which begs the question: Why didn't I pursue visual storyboarding as a career?

"Sometimes you are blessed by the things you didn't get."

—Old Vaquero Saying

A Killer Last Issue of The Razz Revue

 June 23, 2026

   One scorching day about two weeks ago, a very attractive cover model contacted me about a certain issue we produced a half century ago where she was on the cover.

   By we, I mean Dan The Man Harshberger and myself. Here is the cover in question:

The Last Razz, 1976

   Inside, the cover story looked like this:

The models for this were Dawn Schutte and Ray Falangees. No one can remember who made the Mexican food clothes but they are quite creative.

   Yes, and this was the last issue of the Razz (1972-76) and I must say it's full of extraordinary tidbits and simply awful, juvenile attempts at humor. Cringe worthy, actually.     

   That said, this still has, ahem, legs:

   The inside joke here is that our friend Ed Mell went to school with John Harvey Adamson at North High in Phoenix and Ed lent us his yearbook. Adamson, of course, was convicted of blowing up Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles' car with a model airplane remote control device on June 2, 1976.

   Other tidbits in the issue have not aged as well.

   Not sure why we thought this would be funny to have Terry Bell (Olive Mondello) dress up like a tape recorder and interview Sean Kelly, an editor at the National Lampoon on A Mountain in Tucson. But we did and there is no taking it back now.

Confessions of A Honkytonk Drummer

   During this period I spent some quality time as a drummer in the Old Pueblo in a Country band called Roy Brown & Country Gold. That resulted in the following cartoon feature which ran in this issue.

   But there is one piece that almost got us sued for being disgusting and it is, appalling and lame to say the least. And, on advice of council (that would be Kathy), I scanned it, but I'm afraid it's too gross for this forum.

   Meanwhile, there is an installment of the Doper Roper and a sequence that stills stands the test of time. I'll share D-R with you tomorrow.

"Ropin' Dopers Off The Hood of His Pickup"

"Heiffer Dust!"

—Granthum P. Hooker

More Real Wild Women & More Mysteries Solved In The Real Wild West

 June 22, 2026

   If you haven't heard by now, the Hellraisers book is officially sold out and for good reason. That's why it's time for the next women's book, The Real Wild Women of The Real Wild West. It's going to be even bigger and more ambitious.

   This excellent design, above, was created by an intern named Jordan, a youngster who worked for us for about a week way back before we even knew what the title for the first book might be. Such a talented young lady she is. I love the checkerboard effect on the right and the tiny, packed portraits around the edges of the card on the left is intriguing as all get out. Hey Jordan, if you are reading this give me a call. We want to do more of this! And, here's what to expect:

A Longer Line of Feisty Females

   Of course, the dangers they faced were often smaller and more insidious than you might expect.

Daily Whip Outs: "Infestation"

   And, of course, the biggest problem we have today is finding the truth in a faded world.

Daily Whip Out: "Maria Faded"

Daily Scratchboard Whip Outs: "Indin Sign"

Daily Whip Out: "Indin Hipster"

   Meanwhile, in the next issue of True West we are going to solve an Old West mystery once and for all. Who was the man on the buckskin horse?

   And, here is the guy who is going to spill the beans.

A certain Old West author at John Newman Edward's grave. 

Hint: his name rhymes with Mark Lee Gardner.

"A Bonafide Mule Man"

“A stupid mule is still smarter than a good horse or a bad man.”

—Old Vaquero Saying