WHAT IS CHOPPING BLOCK?

Chopping Block is a webcomic about a guy named Butch who wears a hockey mask and kills people.

That's pretty much it. Not entirely, but pretty much. It tries to be funny, and plays at being clever. At the very least, it hopes it's interesting to look at most of the time. Incidentally, my name is Lee. I pull the levers and turn the cranks here behind the curtain. Pay no attention.

Those of us "in the know" like to refer to Chopping Block as "CB". Calling things by their initials implies that we're "in the loop", and that we like to put random phrases "in quotations". Makes us feel important, anyway. And by "us", I mean me and those of you who thought, "He's talking about me!" as you read this paragraph. You know who you are.

There isn't a story, really, if that's what you're into. The comic is just a series of snapshots. Vignettes, if you will. Little glimpses into the life and thoughts of a guy who kills people for a living. And as a hobby. And when he's bored. And as a matter of religious obligation. And, well, just because it's Wednesday. Thing is, though, Butch is conflicted. He likes killing people, but he hates that he can't help killing people, sometimes. He really just wants to be normal, but the only version of normal he knows is the one where blasphemies are written on the walls in blood, and viscera hang dripping, strung from the human-bone chandelier to the meathook curtain rods. I'm pretty sure it's all Mother's fault.

CB is inspired by a variety of sources... Good old-fashioned slasher movie killers, such as (obviously) Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers. Like those big strapping fellas, Butch does not speak, and (almost) never removes his mask. Butch's aforementioned Mother, a mummified corpse he keeps in the house and who is still very much alive in Butch's head, is an homage to Psycho's Norman Bates. Like Mrs. Bates, Butch's mom belittles him, berates him, and urges him to kill.

I also like to think there's a dash of Charles Addams and Edward Gorey in my work. The single-panel format and narrative rhythm are inspired by Gary Larson's "Far Side". And the visual presentation is the result of an attempt to replicate the style of illustrator Lane Smith.

In the end, really, it is what it is, and that's pretty much all you can ever say about anything, when you think about it. So. I hope you enjoy. Have a nice, long look around the abattoir. Just watch where you step. Those day-old spleens laying about can get a bit squirty.