ICECUBES in Japanese!
ICECUBES the Comic Strip in Japanese !

ICECUBES in Japanese!
ICECUBES the comic strip in Japanese !

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ICECUBES in Japanese!
Posted on October 6, 2025 by Leroy Brown
Dear friends, I recently went on a surprise trip to Japan. It has to be said that Japan is the land of comics and cartoons, except they call them manga and anime. Did you know that manga and anime are one of Japan's biggest exports? It's amazing to see all the billboards, signs, TV shows and even subways full of cartoons and cartoon characters. To celebrate our great visit to Japan, I made an ICECUBES strip in Japanese! Accordingly, it is read from right to left and from top to bottom.

    Mini contest!

The first person to translate this strip in the comments below will get a free download of ICECUBES vol. 2 in pdf format. Leave the comment right here:

7 thoughts on “ICECUBES in Japanese!”

  1. Owen wooff

    Peckinpaw: “It’s difficult!”
    Freeze: “please draw it!”

    1. Leroy Brown

      Congrats, you did it! Although it reads right to left, so Freeze first says: “Draw please!” and then Peckinpaw says “It’s difficult!”. Freeze is trying to get Peckinpaw out of his slump and wants him to draw another comic strip. We’ll see if he does… In the meantime you just won a free digital download of ICECUBES Vol. 2!

    2. Leroy Brown

      The link was sent to the email you provided when commenting. Thank you for being an ICECUBES reader!

      1. Owen wooff

        The link didn’t work

        1. Leroy Brown

          Hi Owen, I sent you a new link.

  2. J.P. Keslensky

    Very glad you had a wonderful trip to Japan. Very exciting. Love to hear more about your visit.

    1. Leroy Brown

      Thank you so much! I’ll make a post about it. It was quite the adventure.

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How To Draw Comics. Tracing & Transfers: Part 3.

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Leroy Brown
See Part 1 and Part 2 to catch up. This is the back side of your tracing. ©Leroy Brown Once you have blacked the back of your tracing paper, you are now ready to transfer your drawing. Remember, you only need to black the area that corresponds to your drawing. ©Leroy Brown Now you can flip the tracing over and start transferring your drawing! Place your tracing in the exact spot on your strip were you want the drawing to appear. Now trace your drawing, paying close attention to the lines that you want to capture. A lot of times you don’t need to put in a lot of detail. In my case I was just after the gesture and proportions of my original sketch. tracing8 Presto! There is your original drawing, exactly where you want it on the page! It’s a great trick and I use it when I feel the need for speed! Looks great doesn’t it? Be sure you don’t dig in too much with your pencil just in case you need to erase and reposition your drawing. tracing6 I don’t consider this cheating by the way, since I drew the original drawing. It’s just that I drew it on my sketch pad and wanted to place it at the right spot inside my comic strip. Here are some examples of drawings I transferred recently. tracing11

How To Draw Comics. Tracing & Transfers: Part 2.

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Leroy Brown
So you have selected the drawing you want to transfer. The next step is to trace it. © Leroy Brown Note the tracing paper and original drawing are taped to the table to prevent slipping (orange arrow). Now carefully trace your drawing using a soft pencil. Do not make deep lines or dig into the paper, you just want a nice outline. © Leroy Brown Once the tracing is done, it’s time to prepare the transfer. Turn the tracing over. Using a very soft pencil (3B or more) apply lead to the underside of your tracing. The best way is to use the flat of your lead (using charcoal is fine too). © Leroy Brown Tomorrow we’ll do the transfer! Stay tuned. 🙂 Read Part 1 here! Read Part 3 here!

How To Draw Comics. Tracing & Transfers, part 1.

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Leroy Brown
As mentioned last week, here’s a cool trick to use when trying to copy or transfer a drawing. Often you will practice a drawing a few times to get it right, a lot like a musician practices a riff to get the ‘swing’ of it. When you get that drawing right, you can keep practicing it to memorize it, or if you are on a tight deadline (like I often am) you can transfer it. ©Leroy Brown Here is a practice sheet of Freeze walking. After several attempts I got a drawing I liked (circled in blue). In part 2 I will show you how to trace it then transfer it to your comic. Tune in tomorrow for part 2.