A HINT?

What's the short blonde kid in front of the Delightful Children From Down the Lane's name?

Well, it's not Rick.

And it's not Caleb.

Shirley?

No.

But maybe this page from DC Comics Cartoon Network Action Pack #34 can start you off with the right letter. You'll need to look at the issues after this one to figure out the rest. Although I don't think we ever got to hide the last letter. I can't remember if we finished the scavenger hunt.

For those of you who don't care what his name is... please enjoy the sooper powered inking on this page by Rob 'The Iguana' Smith, penciled by Mr. Maurice Fontenot, of course.

OPERATION: ZERO!

I know Operation: ZERO has aired a bunch of times recently but I haven't had a chance to give you some juicy tidbits about the making of it like I did with the episodes. But I'm here now to do just that. You ready?

GO!


• Alison Wilgus (aka Numbuh 440) started out as an intern, but over the years turned into one of our best sources for story nuggets. And perhaps one of her sooper best EVER was when she pitched the idea that Numbuh One's dad was one of the greatest KND operatives ever-- but remembered none of it because of decommissioning. This made Mo and I scream like fan girls... but we knew an idea like that couldn't just be a regular 11 minute episode. It was WAY too gihoogic. So we saved the idea in the hopes of getting the opportunity to do a movie... and eventually that time came!

• In the same vein, Mo and I had always been asking ourselves, "WHO is even more evil than Father?!" GRANDFATHER, of course. There was even almost a Grandmother in this movie, but she just complicated things and got the boot early on.


• There's not a lot of extra time floating around when you're in production of an animated series. It's not like we had the time or people to make the biggest KND tale ever inbetween episodes. But there were a couple things that helped solve that problem. One was sooper producer Bruce Knapp's putting the movie into production inbetween seasons five and six and breaking it into 11 minute episode-sized chunks. The production of a movie and a series is VERY different, so treating it like a series helped us immeasurably. The next big thing was having Mo, who was done writing KND, do the screenplay. I was too busy with the series, but since Mo was the only person who knew KND as well as I did (in some cases even better) and had no other responsibilities with the show we only had to meet once or twice a week to go over stuff. The third big piece was pulling supreme storyboard artist Guy Moore (aka Numbuh D20) out of the series and dedicating him solely to plotting out the storyboarding of the movie. This was huge. He was able to roughly pre-board most of the movie HIMSELF and head off potential problems before they got to the storyboard artists.



• ZERO'S air date got changed so many times that it made it hard to keep up the continuity of the series and where ZERO fit into it. But that just became another of Guy Moore's missions and he spent countless hours adjusting things so that ZERO would work cronologicimally. And to be honest... I can't even remember how it does-- but it DOES! If you see Guy on the street, have him explain it to you. And then explain it to me.

• Over the course of the seasons we got to sprinkle a little computer animation into episodes here and there, but only because the folks running Curious Pictures were generous enough to let use their CGI staff whilst they were inbetween projects. It's not like we had extra money in the budget for such frivolities. But they helped us out, and in turn it gave them some awesome stuff to put on their reel. So when we were budgeting for Operation: ZERO, I wanted to make sure we had some money for CGI. Of course, we didn't have the money for a giant CGI space battle AND a fully rotating Moonbase like this:



But somehow Curious made it happen-- and I STILL love 'em for that!

Bonus anecdote: When we showed this scene at Comicon, sooper pal and Venture Brothers creator Chris McCullough punched me in the arm and hissed, "WHERE'D YOU GET THE MONEY FOR A CGI TREEHOUSE!"


• The montage where the Senior Citizombies gradually take over the world was originally a lot longer and included a bunch more really cool KND Treehouses including one in Las Vegas and Florida.

• Autograph-crazy Numbuh 101 was named Matt after invulnerable storyboard artist Matt Peters, who had (has) a bit of a reputation as a Superman fanboy. No physical resemblance, though.

• I still get e-mails asking whether the kiss between Numbuh Three and Four actually counts. Some people say it absolutely does. Others say that Numbuh Three obviously wasn't herself so it never happened. Me? I just think it was gross. See?


• If you ever got your hands on the script for Operation: ZERO, you'd be able see the real names of the Delightful Children! But the only one that leaked into the movie was the tall kid's (David). And we already knew Lenny's. So what about the others? Well, I ain't tellin'. But there IS a way to find out the name of the short kid who stands in front of the DCFDTL. No, REALLY! Here's how:

1. Look reeeeeeeeal carefully through the last bunch of KND stories we did in the Cartoon Network Action Pack comics.
2. In some of the comics there are some posters.
3. That's all I'm sayin'.

Can you figure it out? Maybe not. We never got to finish the scavenger hunt. But there's enough information for you to take an educated guess.


• If you don't cry when Numbuh One hugs his Dad at the end... you're a horrible person.
I mean, no offense, but you just are.


• And the end credits?! They usually get shrunk down really small or chopped out altogether on Cartoon Network, which stinks because they're really brilliant. They're basically 'snapshots' by department of everyone who worked on the movie as if they were KND operatives. For example, the storyboard artists are posing in front of a bomber, the revisionists are hunting bad guys in the swamp, and the voice actors are parachuting into enemy territory. Guy Moore did a great job laying them all out, the design team nailed all the caricatures and Alison Wilgus (and others?!) did some gorgeous coloring on these puppies. I get kinda misty looking at 'em because it really is like looking through an old collection of war photos. I wish I had some screen shots to show you but I don't. Boooooo!

I did find this, though:



So that's all the stuff that comes to mind regarding ZERO. I'm sure if I talked to Mo and Guy about it, I could dig up some more, but they'll just have to wait for another day.

All there's left to talk about are the specials... INTERVIEWS and THE GRIM ADVENTURES OF THE KND!

And I've DEFINITELY got some good stories about those...

CN ACTION PACK #45

Aw man, what kind of kissyface mess has Numbuh Four gotten himself into this month?!

And who's gonna save him?!

You can find out in the latest issue of Cartoon Network Action Pack #45


And while this is the LATEST issue,
it looks like this will also be the LASTEST for the Kids Next Door!

Yup... you read that right. We're all done making sooper exciting new adventures for the KND in the pages of Action Pack. We had a BLAST doing them but it's time to make room for some of the new shows!

I'm not sure how many stories we wrote, pencilled, inked, colored and lettered, but it was A SOOPER LOT. We started in the pages of Cartoon Cartoons, which later became Cartoon Network Block Party, and then moved over when they created Action Pack.
(click them links to see all the covers!)


And while hyper-powered penciller Maurice Fontenot and Indestructible Inker Rob 'The Iguana' Smith pretty much did the heavy lifting for most of the series, let's not forget that Kim Arndt and Matt Peters rocked the pencils as well.

Big thanks to the letterers and colorists who helped out, too-- but sooper big ups to colorist Candy Bell who always went above and beyond the call of coloriffickness.


And don't forget all the different artists who made those one-page KND vs DCFDTL comics; Peter Bagge, Sean 'Cheeks' Galloway, Mo Willems, Scott Benson, Art Baltazar, etc etc etc. You can check some of them out over HERE!


Also, thanks to the folks at DC COMICS for helping out; Joan Hilty, Harvey Richards, Rachel Gluckstern, Sean Ryan... and especially Elizabeth Gehrlein who had a special love for the KND I'll always be thankful for.


So rock onward, Cartoon Network Action Pack!

We had fun!

CN ACTION PACK #44

While the series has long gone underground, the Codename: Kids Next Door comics keep coming at ya!

And you know who else keeps comin' at the KND?

Lizzie.


Love her or hate her... You know things get nuts when she's around.
But if she's not going on a date with Nigel then...

WHO?!

Grab Cartoon Network Action Pack #44 and find out!

PURTY PENCILLIN'

Thought I'd give you guys a free scoop of Mr. Fontenot's latest pencilization of an upcoming Cartoon Network Action Pack story!


And why do I get the feelin' that Numbuh Four ain't gonna like what these cowgirls got in mind for him?

CN ACTION PACK #41

Yup... another month, another rockin' issue of 'The Pack'!

And someone's got a secret...


Yes, he DID just say that out loud...

And I'M sayin' that you gotta hit your local comic store, order online or borrow this issue from your best friend...

Because Pummeling Penciller Maurice Fontenot and Indelible Inker The Iguana have drawn up an awesome story for you once AGAIN!

Don't miss it!

CN ACTION PACK #40

Hey Cartoon Network Action Pack fans-- Issue #40 is on the stands NOW!

And if you like the idea of Numbuh Three and Four alone together in the Treehouse on a romantical moonlit night... I think you're gonna like this one!


Could this be the night?!

Or just another chance for Numbuh Four to be a jerk?

Pick up your copy today so you can bask in the awesome art of Potent Penciller Maurice Fontenot and Inveterate Inker Rob 'The Iguana' Smith!

Moosk = Minsc?!

So even though he was in only one episode of Codename: Kids Next Door--- the muscle bound, English language mangling, former accountant turned legendary Tie Hunter Moosk seems to have a LOT of fans.

And quite a few of those fans have noticed a certain similarity between Moosk and a certain character...


from a certain videogame...


And my answer to that is...

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!

It is a COMPLETE COINCIDENCE that I played (and LOVED) all the Baldur's Gate games and that Moosk has slightly similar vocal styling, ramblings, and inane rants akin to the stylish, rambling, inanely ranting character Minsc.

It's also a COMPLETE coincidence that the same voice actor (the inimitable Jim Cummings) played both Minsc and Moosk.


Sure, they sound sooper kinda somewhat almost exactly a little alike.

But that's just one of those weird little coincidences...

Right?

Okay... fine.

Maybe not a TOTAL coincidence.

But still...

Anyway, for all you Minsc, I mean Moosk fans, he's making a comeback in the pages of Cartoon Network Action Pack real soon! Check out this sooper coincidental sneak peek page by Power Tie Penciller Maurice Fontenot!



And just so you know... this is the way I mark up Mr. Fontenot's pages so the letterer knows where to put all the dialogue from the script.

Now you know... and knowing is half the battle.

CN ACTION PACK #39

It's the bounciest KND story EVER and detective Numbuh Two is right in the middle of it!

And who's back to get her revenge?


Man, Numbuh Three's sister Mushi has really got some issues, right?

So get out to yer local comic shop and get your own issues of CN Action Pack!

CN ACTION PACK #35

On the shelves of your local comic shop is the latest issue of Cartoon Network Action Pack which contains the latest rockin' tale of Kids Next Doorness.

In this story, the KND receive a visit from Numbuh Ouch, the KND's Defense Against Spanking instructor who had to have his backside surgically removed after it took a beating in The Great Paddywhack Machine Rebellion. And you know what that means:


Man, I love my job.

SOOPER CUTE KND vs DCTFTL

Cartoon Network Action Pack #32 has actually been out for a while, but somehow I didn't receive a copy until just recently. It just goes to show you that there are STILL evil adults out there trying to stop people from getting their recommended dosage of KND!

So first, I'd like you to check out how sooper famous comic artist Art Baltazar (Patrick the Wolf Boy, Tiny Titans) drew the KND:


Um...

Well...

All I gotta say is...

CUTEST KND EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVER?!?!?
If you can still find this issue, definitely pick it up to see the other two one-pagers he drew!

But wait...

In that same issue are three more KND vs DCFDTL by Eric Jones (Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade), Here's one of 'em:


Awesome, right? I love seeing how different artists (especially amazing ones) draw the KND!