April 1, 2025

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Here & Now & Then (graphic novel) 

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From falling out of my kayak in Florida’s shark-infested waters, to ‘catching’ cancer, these stories are ripped straight from my everyday life, or childhood life.  Often silly but sometimes have serious underpinnings (disease, anxiety, finance). 

 

The first story called My Sharpie Life is about dropping the iconic marker on the tile floor and dulling the tip. It became my ‘Bluntie’ and I found other practical uses for it like hiding the silver fox streaks in my hair, while my wife wishes it were a magic wand. 

 

Most of these equate to a one minute stand-up set and have fetched comments such as “This is like a real life Calvin & Hobbes” and “I’d buy a book of these.” (Comments goal achieved.)

 

There’s also a section that skews edutainment about fundamental psychology where you’ll learn the gist of classic studies like The London Taxi Cab Experiment and The Pygmalion Effect. Keeping with the stand up model, my opening act is a section of four-panel stories that include pop culture references and ‘stuff my dad cusses at.’ 

 

The follow up book DOT, (150 pages) is in pre-production now. It’s a fully fictional, single narrative that’s much more cinematic and is the origin story of Stickmin. The plot revolves around how he’s able to bring to life only silhouetted characters from everyday signage. He must assemble a team of misfits in time to save the Department of Transportation from a potential mass casualty event, masterminded by the neighborhood watch guy.

 

See flipbook below.

 

Tom LaBaff - After graduating from Ringling College of Art & Design in Sarasota, he spent the first decade of his illustration career making animated films for Walt Disney Studios. He has illustrated numerous books for publishers such as The Town of Zack for Worthwhile, and Aly Cat Takes on First Grade for Scholastic. Tom also spent a year as Fred Laswell's assistant on the legendary comic Snuffy Smith. He has 2 new picture books coming out this year. His platform is Reddit where a typical Geesh comic fetches hundreds of thousands of views with a few top performing stories winning over a million views.

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