HEY THERE PEOPLE OF TODAY AND ROBOTS OF TOMORROW! IT'S ME, CLARK! There is a madness deep in the dark catacombs of Castle Clarkenstein. For years these claustrophobic corridors have been the home of the ghoulish giraffe himself, watching as the world passes by. He prefers it this way. It gives him more time alone with the voices. The voices tell him many strange things. Yet they always come back to one: make more monsters! Everyday they tell him this. Everyday he is unable to comply. Hey, being a mad scientist on a budget means he can’t afford the fancy scientific equipment needed to breathe life into newborn abominations. Guy’s gotta afford pizza somehow. Luckily, he has discovered a way of sorts to please the voices. During all those years of watching, Dr. Clarkenstein noticed a particular pattern. Every night during October saw artists posting new pictures based on peculiar prompts. Many of them based on children of the night. While the spotted specter might not be able to craft new zombies, he can sure as heck sketch’m! As such, I provide this friendly warning to you all now: Be afraid. Few people can survive the horrors that are DUDELZ of the Damned!

By that I mean I decided to do my own take on Sketchtober this year just minus the prompts. Anybody gotta problem with that? Tough, cuz I already drew this crap so you might as well check it out.

Bumper is a mystery. Nobody knows when he died, how long ago the deed was done, or who did it. All we know now is that he is a child-like spirit who can only speak one word: Boo. Despite not knowing much about his own origin, the floating marshmallow is more than contempt with living an adventurous life with his family whenever not making new friends. However, one shouldn’t be caught assuming the friendly specter doesn’t have a dark side. It rarely comes out, but is a sight to behold nonetheless. Revealed only when the spirit is angry or agitated, the small spook becomes a hulking, haunting mass of fear! Gone are his pudgy digits in favor of sharp claws, his round, caring eyes swapped out for white, lifeless dots surrounded by a ghoulish gray, even his Boo becomes a deafening wail! For others this form proves frightening. For the Swamp Gang it’s a sign that the little ghostly goober needs a nap.

Just like this drawing needs an explanation! Back in 2017 I had sketched a ‘scary’ version of Bumper for no particular reason. Whether it was an idea for a story or just a random scribbling didn’t really matter, so the idea was left behind. That is until June of this year when the Dungeon Moron @burningthrucelluloid decided to pull the wool out from under me. During the Curse of Strahd campaign, Crocie managed to find his otherworldly companion within the titular blood sucker’s domicile. However, by then a week had passed and Strahd had gaslit the spirit into thinking the reptile had abandoned him. Why Bumper would believe that when the vampire was the one who torched his original body and held him hostage for all the time is anybody’s guess. Gaps in logic aside, the floating marshmallow transformed a dark, snarling, horrendous version of himself Alec referred to as 'Dark Bumper'. Making it all the more spookier was the fact that I hadn't shown him my sketch until after that session. It was after doing so I realized I shouldn't let a cool design go to waste, thus utilizing it for this DUDEL. Here’s hoping you all enjoy it and that Bumper is really just a double agent.

MAY THE GLASSES BE WITH YOU!

HAVING SAID ALL THAT: Two Bumper DUDELZ in a row? Jee Clark, I love the undead goober but don't you have other characters to draw? Yes, and I do plan on drawing more of them soon. However, do to prior art projects demanding my attention, there won't be any more DUDELZ for the next few days. This was the last one I had in the reserves, scheduled to be posted later on this month, but I didn't wanna leave you folks hanging. So here's one last DUDEL before we enter a temporary pause.