A few months ago I was asked to do a comic for an anthology being published by Sunstone Magazine. I had never heard of the magazine before, but I was a fan of several other artists who were asked to do a comic for it, and I liked the idea of doing something short and sweet, and colorless. This is actually my second attempt, the first idea I had was soon mired in a story tar pit. I hope to finish that one someday, because I really liked where it was going.
Anyway, Star Thrower is based off of this story, which was in turn based loosely off of this story. You may have heard a version at church or at a motivational speech or in an email from a concerned parent. I always thought the title sounded sci-fi, and naturally my thoughts drifted into space and to other planets. Eventually, I landed here, on the moon, with a couple of giant aliens and a host of stranded astronauts. The absurdity of it all made me laugh, so I had to comicatize it.
Drawn on 11 x 17 inch paper with my Zebra.
June 10th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Ha! What a fun comic, Jake. Uplifting, too! That kid’s got a good head on his shoulders.
June 10th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
Beaks! Wonderfully done, thanks for posting.
June 10th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Brilliant!
June 10th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
the vision of hundreds astronauts strewn over the surface of the moon struck me as straight out of X-Minus One.
and, of course, the astronaut hurtling towards Earth makes me think of the Ray Bradbury story “Kaleidoscope”.
Oh,yeah. It’s very well drawn as usual
The creature reminds me a bit of those energy-eating things that Lucy Nova went up against.
June 10th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Oh my god!!!! I do not like feeling this jealous!
June 10th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
awesome! great reinterpretation!
i’ve been following you for a long time now. great designs always.
June 10th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
love this so much
June 10th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
haha! Great take on that story my friend! Well done indeed!
June 10th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
This is so wonderful! Fantastic work and sweet story.
June 10th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
awsome
June 10th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
Jake: Is the Zebra re-fillable? My Pentel brush pen isn’t (cartridges) and I think I need a change (plus, the unpredictable nature of the ink quality from moment to moment is frustrating)
June 11th, 2010 at 11:02 am
Thanks everybody.
Arkonbey: Unfortunately no, it isn’t. But the cool thing is as it runs out of ink it starts to make this nice drybrush effect. So I keep a few in different stages of dryness handy for different effects.
June 11th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
Two Thumbs Up!!!
June 12th, 2010 at 8:43 am
That’s pretty cool.
June 13th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
Really like the grayscale treatment Jake!
@arkonbey, I don’t think you’ll find a better brush pen than the Pentel. The ink is good but it goes into dry brush mode as soon as I paint fast, the ink doesn’t reach the bristles quickly enough. And it’s cheap
June 14th, 2010 at 11:14 am
Hey Jake,
Quick question – longer explanation.
Where can I get a zebra? (No-I’m not looking for a small horsish creature with stripes.)
I am a full time seminary student with an art degree. I still love to draw, doodle and occasionally ink. The trouble is I don’t have time to drag out my bottle and brush. A pen like yours could be a good alternative for those moments when I have fifteen minutes of free time here or there. Where can I get one and how much do they run? Remember Grad school is expensive.
In His Peace,
Richard
June 14th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Very heartwarming spin on the story Jake, and it really hit home on that final page when we saw the astronauts face on his ‘return trip.’
Thanks for sharing it with us. Great, great stuff.
June 19th, 2010 at 10:51 am
This was so beautiful it made me tear-up! Thank you!
June 19th, 2010 at 10:53 am
Great comic!
…I suppose it didn’t make much difference once he hit re-entry though :-\
June 19th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Thanks. Very funny comics about flying astronauts. Its real truth about space travelers:)
June 23rd, 2010 at 3:21 pm
classic fun stuff. Nice work man. I want to see more
June 24th, 2010 at 7:25 am
this is a play on the girl on the beach throwing starfish back into the sea story.
pretty old story.
June 24th, 2010 at 7:40 am
Nicely done and heartwarming
June 24th, 2010 at 10:21 am
This comic should have a few more panels. The next one should be the astronaut thinking (with his hand on his chin). The one after that a picture of burning up on reentry. The following one with the astronaut’s eyes wide and mouth agape, hands and feet in front trying to stop in terror. The final one should be the aliens again, with the earth in the background and a little poof of smoke or fire on it.
June 24th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
I really like this, but it’s a knockoff from a commercial by the LDS church with a little boy doing the same thing with starfish that have washed up on the beach and his Grandmother told him that he can’t possibly make a difference because of the quantity of starfish. He replies exactly the same way with, “I made a difference to that one.” It’s nice but it’s just not original.
June 24th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Awww I love that a lot. I’m really glad you did that.
June 24th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
Thanks for the comments everyone. I appreciate them all.
Human, NimbleBJak – I’m not trying to take any credit for the story. I thought I made it pretty clear in my post that it’s based off of an old motivational story. I’ve actually heard it so many times it’s pretty crusty to my ears, which is why I thought I’d do an absurd retelling of it to spice it up again.
sc23 – Thanks. I like leaving it open ended though. Sometimes it’s what you don’t show in a story that really counts.
June 26th, 2010 at 11:52 am
cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 26th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
This is great! I love it!
June 26th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
Too bad they’ll burn up once they hit Earth’s atmosphere
June 26th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
A futuristic take on the star fish story. The language used in this adaptation is still identical to the language found within the starfish story, almost word for word even. For this lack of creativity I give the artist an F
June 29th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
Man I wish people would read before posting… I had a funny quip about reentry but I see it is exhausted here. Awesome Jake… I was laughing so hard my office matte asked me to keep it down. Love it. Way to make a fun parody of an old tale.
June 30th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
I really loved this. Extremely inspiring!
June 30th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Won’t he burn up on re-entry?
June 30th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
that was too cute. and i love this comment – Greg Baldwin Says:
Oh my god!!!! I do not like feeling this jealous!-
cuz thats how I feel. haha
June 30th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
Probably the best spin on this little tale I’ve ever seen.
The style is really cute too.
July 1st, 2010 at 1:57 am
Love it Jake – very waterson-esque
July 1st, 2010 at 3:15 am
it’s all very nice! until the astronauts burn up on re-entry, of course
July 1st, 2010 at 3:21 am
loosely based?
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:10 am
Really good reinvention of the old Starfish story.. Looking up at the comments, its kind of sad more people don’t seem to know it..
Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.
One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.
As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.
He came closer still and called out “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The young man paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”
“I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?” asked the somewhat startled wise man.
To this, the young man replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”
Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, “But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!”
At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, “It made a difference for that one.”
July 2nd, 2010 at 6:53 am
Really nice adaptation of this classic story. I thought I’d comment because the amount of comments cursing the unoriginality were irritating me.
We all know it is a classic tale and I’m sure there will be many versions of it in years to come.
This is however a very nice modernized version of the story. I love it. <3
July 2nd, 2010 at 5:25 pm
Hey Rob maybe other people wanted to make their “funny quips” too maybe?
July 7th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Good day, go to deivantart.com I think the other artist would love to see your work !!
July 7th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
If I was that little guy I would have eaten them.
July 8th, 2010 at 12:54 am
too bad he doesnt have a parachute.
_______________________________________________________
lulz.
July 9th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
aww thats sweet
July 14th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
Great comic, I like the imagery, and the idea of rescue.
Silly rescue.
July 14th, 2010 at 10:26 pm
Good comic, bad magazine…
July 15th, 2010 at 8:12 pm
This is totally an old story about a guy throwing starfish back into the ocean… I like the alien astronaut theme but between the totally stolen idea like word for word and the fact that the astronauts would die upon re-entry i give it a 3 out of 10
July 19th, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Awh!!!! That’s so cute=]
I LOVE IT!!!!
July 22nd, 2010 at 4:19 am
Beautiful reinterpritation
July 22nd, 2010 at 4:29 am
eddieruxpin: seriously, can you not read? Full attribution is given in the post above the comic. Jeez!
July 22nd, 2010 at 4:32 am
Look at his face going back home…
July 22nd, 2010 at 4:46 am
“HAHA!” says the astronaut. Now about that re-entry….
July 22nd, 2010 at 7:44 am
Um, isn’t this a copy of a story about starfish being thrown back into the ocean? Shame on you, you naughty cartoonist. Also, would the astronaut look so happy if he contemplated his forthcoming fiery demise?
Now if only some talented cartoonist would draw a strip about all the numbnuts out there that absolutely have to have their 2c worth but can’t be bothered to read the comments above theirs before posting. I’ve never been more convinced that people should have to take a test and be issued a licence before being allowed to comment on the internet.
By the way, Author, I liked the strip but it’s just not realistic, our government would never fund that many ventures to the moon without a solid return, and the astronauts themselves wouldn’t count as a solid return if they burn up in the atmosphere.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:13 am
Thanks for this. Unlike those carping about originality, I had never heard the original story, and following it from Eisely through Barker to here is interesting, different takes, like a blues standard or something.
Those who harsh my buzz with predictions of re-entry flash and burn need to consider that the moonmen would have thrown the astronauts at the space elevator.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:56 am
[...] [...]
July 22nd, 2010 at 10:42 am
[...] I love Jake Parker’s take on it. Click here for the full comic. [...]
July 22nd, 2010 at 2:49 pm
Great work, Jake. A fun retelling, well illustrated.
Hope you are not disheartened by some of the idiotic comments here.
July 22nd, 2010 at 3:16 pm
I thought this was really neat, even though I had heard the original one and it’s offshoots. Kinda shows there are *nice* aliens out there who don’t want to destroy all humans.
Besides, since when are comics realistic? Where are the critics of a flying man who breaks the sound barrier and can catch bullets?
Aside from the near word-for-word verbage, I really think it is a neat interpretation. 8 of 10!
July 22nd, 2010 at 5:09 pm
too bad aliens don’t exist on the moon.
July 22nd, 2010 at 5:11 pm
I’m sure at those speeds, slamming into the space elevator would be equally fatal. Their fate has been sealed… either suffocate, burn to death, or splatter upon a technological marvel.
What a gruesome world we live in. Best not to offer your assistance.
July 22nd, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Amazing! If that last frame was available on a t-shirt, I would buy that in a heartbeat.
- Aaron
July 22nd, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Thank you. Feeling good after this.
July 22nd, 2010 at 8:57 pm
Won’t the flying astronauts be eaten by the space cthulu??
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Brilliant! Face palm when I read the comments by some. I didn’t Even read the intro and I could tell that the author was giving a twist to the old story and not trying to take it at their own. Also the people going on about re-entry!!? It’s a goddamn comic telling a fun and thought provoking story, it’s not meant to be real. Although the guy detailing the little puff of smoke was amusing. If you really want to kiss the point and pick holes then what about the original… I believe Starfish are not an animal you want to save and are usually a sign that the water is not very healthy.
Anyway nice comic, will be sharing this link around.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Oops should have proof read my post… Typing on an iPad is not the best
July 23rd, 2010 at 7:47 am
[...] to enjoy it. After seeing the final frame, I smiled and I hope you enjoy the comic as much as I did.The Star Thrower – Agent44 [via Boing Boing]This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not [...]
July 23rd, 2010 at 10:56 am
yeah well drawn good story IIIIII LIKE IT !
Very good
July 23rd, 2010 at 6:22 pm
[...] via agent44 [...]
July 24th, 2010 at 12:13 am
Very nice indeed, the highlight of my day, well done and congratulations.
July 24th, 2010 at 2:16 am
and then the astronaut burns to death while entering earths atmosphere… assuming he didnt already starve on the way there
July 25th, 2010 at 12:00 am
This is a wonderful comic. It made me smile because the little things that a person can do can make a difference to even one person. Extremely well done. I enjoyed it very much and I love the basic message.
Thank you for sharing such a wonderful thing with us.
August 2nd, 2010 at 3:11 pm
that’s so cool, so clever even
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:49 pm
That is pretty sweet.
August 4th, 2010 at 12:36 am
I think it’s BRILLIANT.
August 4th, 2010 at 7:20 am
[...] The Star Thrower – Sweet cartoon that updates the old story about the kid throwing starfish back into the ocean. [...]
August 29th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Awesome!
September 1st, 2010 at 5:49 pm
i love this, the art work is reminiscent of bill waterson’s calvin and hobbes and also a lot like the roughs for Pixar’s works, its beautiful. This is how stories should be re-worked, take an old story and add your fingerprint to it.
To those who comment about unoriginality and about the burning up on re-entry issue, come on, this is a beautifully drawn cartoon about a lovely story, nothing more and certainly nothing less!
September 1st, 2010 at 7:02 pm
then the astronaut lands safely on solid concrete and lived happily ever after. (after he survived burning through earth’s atmosphere) :3
i like being a downer