chicago zine fest 2011

Registration for the Chicago Zine Fest 2011 is now open!

We've been working really hard to make a really great weekend in late March:

Friday, March 25

2-4pm Silver Tongue Reading series featuring readings by Columbia College students, and a reading/talk by Al Burian and Aaron Cometbus

5-6pm Kids Zine Reading at 826 CHI

6:30-8:30pm Adults Zine Reading at 826 CHI

9-11pm Opening Ceremony & Karaoke at Quimby's

Saturday, March 26

10am-5pm Exhibiting at Columbia College 

Two floors of tabling, workshops and a film festival.  We'll have almost 100 tables, which means we'll have nearly 200 exhibitors!

8pm -12am CZF (in)Formal

A party full of dancing, ice cream, nerding out, trading zines!  It'll be tons of fun.

Sunday, March 27

Probably some fun activities like Brunch and kickball.

oof!  It should be tons of fun.  You should totally come!  It'll be great.  Let me know if you need a floor to sleep on.  The kids I'm organizing this event with are all awesome.  We've got a really great work dynamic between the seven of us.  It should prove to result in a quality weekend.

I've also been drawing some, trying to increase production for the Minicomic of the Month Club 2011, and Sock-Monster.

chicago zine fest

oh boy.

I wish I liked swearing, because if I did I would be throwing some cusses from my mouth bay.  I'll manage, here we go:

SOMETHING SOMETHING! I am so SOMETHING SOMETHING excited for the Chicago Zine Fest and it's still (at the time of writing this exactly) 3 months, 21 days, 22 hours, 36 minutes and 18 seconds away!  Working on it right now is SOMETHING SOMETHING amazing, because it's like one SOMETHING SOMETHING tidal wave after another of really SOMETHING SOMETHING exciting developments that knock me on my SOMETHING SOMETHING!  SOMETHING SOMETHING!  I can't wait until I can tell you all about the fest. Your jaw will drop and you'll be all like SOMETHING SOMETHING!  And I'll be all like SOMETHING YEAH!

  Ah, It's nice to get that out of my system.

  No, but seriously, the Chicago Zine Fest is going to be a truly amazing weekend (not to over hype it or anything), we're lining up some great special guests, and then we're going to do a blast of strongly encouraging exhibiting to the zinesters we really want to be there.  The programming is going to be tons of fun, featuring both a Kids and an Adults reading on Friday night, followed by Karaoke at Quimby's.  On Saturday we'll have TONS of people showing off their zines at tables, and then a full slate of workshops and panels and a DIY short-film festival, curated by Eric Ayotte.  We'll have a fun after-fest event that night, and then some fun get-togther stuff on Sunday, probably Kickball.  If you're reading these words, I strongly encourage you to be in Chicago the weekend of March 25, and too then attend (or exhibit or volunteer at) the Chicago Zine Fest.  Registration for exhibitors opens December 15th!

  DIY CHI is hosting a benefit show for the Zine Fest at the Juicer the money from the door goes to the zine fest.  The money from the bake sale goes to DIY CHI, everyone wins.  Except for the baked goods that have been cursed with self awareness.

Oh, hey, one last thing.  If you haven't yet you should consider giving to my Mustaches For Kids campaign (I grow a mustache you help fund underfunded public school programs), give what you can.  Also consider signing up for my Minicomic of the Month Club.  You can sign up whenever, but it would be really great to start to get an idea of how many folks I'm making minicomics for.  If you do either of these things, you'll cheer me up.  My Tegan and Sara tape broke in my back pack today, that thing got me through a couple rough break-ups, I'm kinda bummed.

2011

Well, look who crawled out of his hole to post a blog.  I've had some fun since APE, including attending the Milwaukee Zine Fest, and meeting my nephew, Ed.  I've been meeting weekly with two different groups to organize the Chicago Zine Fest, which will take place on March 25 & 26th, and the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (aka CAKE) which will hopefully be in August or October of 2011.  I've been cleaning & weatherizing my apartment, and practicing & writing new songs with my best friend, Josh.  Any way you cut it, 2011 is going to be a big year for me creatively, and I wanted to share some info with you as the countdown to the end of 2010 begins (only 34 days)!

COMICS!
I wont be putting out a whole lot of new sellable comics, not like Spitting Pennies or Write Now!, this year.  Instead I'm going to focus my efforts on two projects:

1. Sock-Monster! As we speak, I have a genius of a web designer redesigning my website, making Sock-Monster the focus of my web presence.  So I'll be updating Sock-Monster on a regular schedule (no seriously) as soon as I can.

2. Minicomic of the Month Club! I'm taking the year to experiment with form by biting off Liz Baillie's idea from 2009, a subscription-based service of a monthly minicomic delivered to your mailbox.  I'll be focusing on expanding my knowledge of book binding, art media, and story telling.  If you want to sign up for the service you can click right here on these exact words.  I'm hoping this will be a challenging and fun exercise for me, and I hope you'll enjoy watching me stretch my muscles a bit.

That seems like not a whole lot for an entire year, but it's along with the other projects listed below, it's going to suck up all my free time (sorry, ladies).   Because of my low imput of sellable comics, I'll be attending fewer shows, this year, only exhibiting at 4 comics shows, and maybe as many zine fests, and I probably wont have anything new on my table comics-wise.

ZINES!
  I really want to start making zines. I consider minicomics a type of zine, but I've never made a text-heavy zine.  My sister Kate made her first zine a little while ago (and it's amazing), and it got me really wanting to try to express myself in a non-sequential format.  I don't have a name for the zine yet, so if anyone has any good ideas (D.Billy, I'm looking at you), gimme.  The first issue will hopefully be about and published by the Chicago Mayoral elections, the second by Chicago Zine Fest (???!!!), that's a pretty tight schedule.

FEST PLANNING!
  As I mentioned before I'm helping organize both the Chicago Zine Fest and CAKE.  Both events will be flat out, straight up amazing, and if you're interested in either zines or alternative/independent comics, they will be not-to-be-missed events.  CZF is coming up fast (3 Months and 28 Days), and planning is furious and fast.  I'm lucky to be organizing CZF with a handful of great folks, Matt, Leslie, Ramsey (who were the other organizers last year), Johnny, Carrie and Jen (who have joined us for year two and are amazing).  CAKE's organizational structure is looser than the zine fest, so to list all the organizers would be a bit silly (not everyone makes every meeting, but they've contributed a great deal, I'm sure I'd forget to include someone).

CIPRC & REVENGE OF PRINT
   The store I work for, Quimby's has joined forces with Atomic Books, Zine World and Xerography Debt to declare 2011 as the Revenge of Print, because like a lot of my friends and I, they are sick and tired of the question "Is Print Dead?"  We're encouraging everyone and their mother to self-publish something, it'll be great.

   That declaration inspired me to act on an idea friends of mine and I have been kicking around for years, the creation of an independent publishing resource center in Chicago.  Portland has a great model for supporting independent publishers that I hope we can learn from.  Chicago has a healthy publishing and printing community, and a lot of spaces that encourage and teach methods of print making and writing, but nothing for the basic zine.  Copy shops in this town are either staffed by unfriendly or intimidating people, or are expensive or both.  The most basic vision for the center would be an office with a copier and supplies for cheap use.  From there we can build up tools and skill sharing to encourage anyone who has something to say to say it.

  What else, any other resolutions for 2011?  All that wasn't enough?! Keep my room clean, maybe?  I'll probably fail at that.

OH!  One last thing, I'm growing a mustache to raise money for public school classroom projects.  I know, it makes absolutely no sense, don't ask too many questions, it'll just make your head hurt.  Instead, visit my grower's page on donor's choose (one of Oprah's favorite things) and donate money to some of these awesome projects.  You can also check out my mustache's progress on flickr.  I have to admit, I've been a little slow getting my money ask out.  The campaign is called Mustaches for Kids or M4K, and it's pretty cool.

ape

The Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco was TONS OF FUN!

As usual, the highlights were the friendships, new and old that I got to enjoy.  I got to hang out with my cousins Edward and Anne on Friday night.  They're really great folks, so it was fantastic to get to hang out with them.  As usual, I shared a table with Kenan Rubenstein, who is a great guy, and a lot of fun to be around.  Next to our table were our buddies Josh Shalek and Reid Psaltis.  The number of good friends inhabiting the show are too numerous to list here, but they are all awesome folks, and they should know how exciting it is to see them whenever I get to.  I also got to meet some new folks, some I was excited to meet, like Anne Koyama, and Michael Deforge.  Others were pleasant surprises like Lea Zalinkis, and Sarah Palmer.

I had some fun food experiences, from a failed trip to buy vegan doughnuts on Sunday Morning, to the most manic and bizarre chinese restaurant I've ever been to, to delicious vegan organic mexican cuisine!

Sorry, it's not much of a recap, but my head is still spinning.  Photos help tell the story too.  Also, check out my photos from the Madison Zine Fest.  I'm trying really hard to get better at taking pictures.

ok bye.

Sock-Monster #612

My friend Jeff is helping me learn how to scan!  After five years of having a webcomic, you'd think I'd know how to do it...but I didn't.  Here's a new Sock-Monster we've been testing on.

indie comics connection to science

I don't know if you're aware of it, but the Museum of Science and Industry here in Chicago is looking for a roommate.  If you'd like to be considered for the position, build a time machine, go back to when they were accepting applications, and apply.  You might win, you will have had just built a time machine, that's kinda sciencey.

  Something I've found interesting (and further proof that I need to have a life outside of comics) is that two notable applicants have ties to the indie comics world:

1. The contestant whose applicant video won the museum's "Best Sets and Choreography Thereof Award," Davin Coburn had help from Johnny Hiro creator, Fred Chao for his video (he slaps up the clouds and is dressed up like a robot, and I'm sure helped build the sets & props, he's a good dude).

2.  One of the five finalists, Kate McGroaty is the current roommate of Corinne Mucha (author of My Alaskan Summer, My Every Single Thought, and Is It The Future Yet).

  Corinne assures me Kate is the person for the job, and apparently you can vote once a day for the duration of voting.  Check out the finalists and vote for the Kate you think should win (sorry other finalists, maybe if your current roommate was a friend whose comics I admire, and they told me to vote for you, I'd vote for you).  Corinne vaguely promised some sort of "a museum stole my roommate" comic out of Kate's winning, if that's not motivation enough, you've never read Corinne's comics.

small press expo recap

Here's the Rubenstein/Brideau table spread for this past weekend's SPX.  I had a grand old time.  Let us pretend to remember, shall we?

I took a 17-hour Amtrak ride down to DC, and met Kenan at the Bethesda Marriott Hotel, where SPX took place, and checked into our hotel room.  We immediately jumped back on the DC Metro, down to Union Station and caught the MARC train up to Baltimore, which was a smooth and fun ride. The MARC train looks like a space ship in the inside, unlike the Metro trains, which look like space ships from the outside.  My best friend from college, Doghed, who now lives in Baltimore met us at Penn Station, and we drove over to the neighborhood that houses Atomic Books, for a comics reading.  We stopped into Golden West Cafe to have dinner with another friend from college, Joe Mulhollen.  It was all quite exciting.

  Atomic Books held -for the third year in a row- SPXplosion, an unofficial pre-show party which featured readings by folks like Sarah Glidden, Corinne Mucha (who I thought stole the show), Julia Wertz, and R. Sikoryak, as well as an awkward presentation of the Nerdlinger Awards (not hosted by founders, Liz, MK or Robin).

  After the event, Doghed, Kenan and I headed back to Bethesda and stayed up until 3:30 am binding comics.  I can't really blame procrastination, because I'd been working hard on preparing for SPX for the past three weeks.

  The Small Press Expo takes place in a large hotel ballroom, with a couple hundred tables filled to the edge with comics, prints, t-shirts and hand-made toys.  The show attracts comics artists both established and unknowns to set up shop, and sell, trade or give away their comics.  This was the third year attending the show, the last two years I volunteered for the show, and brought comics to trade with folks.  This year I ended up behind a table with my good friend, Kenan Rubenstein.

  Saturday was a very busy day!  The sea of humanity that flooded the aisles never let up, and instead of waiting for a lull, I just ended up running away from my table near the end of the day to say hello to some acquaintances, who happened to have comics I new I wanted to grab.

  Sunday was less busy, but not slow by any means.  I did step away from my table more, though I was nervous the entire time I was away.  I met some really cool folks, and picked up some really exciting comics, that in future posts I hope to mention.  All in all, I sold out of three titles (including both of my debuting titles), and sold, traded and gave away a lot of all of my comics.  I was really happy with the reception my comics got by folks.

  On Sunday, my friend Becky stopped by and delivered 10 sticky buns from Sticky Fingers, a vegan bakery in DC, which I shared with my table mates, and a few friends who were sitting in other parts of the show.  Later in the day, a third college friend, Patience surprised me by showing up at my table.  I hadn't seen she visited me in Providence, the summer of 2003, right before I moved to Chicago.  Besides giving me the amazing gift of her presence, she gave me an amazing hand-drawn flip book she had made called "Herculean Snail," which brought a smile to everyone I showed it to.  Seeing Patience amplified the awesomeness of the weekend exponentially.

  Saturday night, Kenan, Sam Sharpe, and Reid Psaltis went out to dinner to Yuan Fu, a vegan/vegetarian restaurant a couple miles away from the hotel, and got back to the hotel in time for the Ignatz awards.  No one I voted for won, but I still thought everyone who did was well deserving of their bricks.

  I had a lot of fun hanging out with Kenan and Sam (who shared our room Saturday night).   After SPX was over on Sunday, the three of us packed up our tables, and trekked into DC, and met up with Becky, and had dinner at Busboys and Poets on 14th.  We then unloaded our hauls and read comics in our pajamas until late into the night.

  The next morning Becky went to work, Kenan jumped on a megabus, Sam headed out to Dulles airport and I made my way to Union Station to get back onto the Amtrak.

  My first year exhibiting at SPX was a great experience, and I owe it to good friends, and the great interactions I had from behind my table and in front of others'.

  Now I need to regroup, and get myself in order for the Madison Zine Fest (10/2), Alternative Press Expo (10/16-17) in San Francisco, and the Milwaukee Zine Fest (11/12-13)!  See you there?

happy bethesday!

Here's a quick update for this upcoming weekend, which if you don't know by now is the 16th annual

SMALL PRESS EXPO in Bethesda, Maryland (which is a block away from the White Flint stop on the Washington DC Metro's red line).

I've been working pretty hard to get everything ready for the show.  I'll have old stand-by's like the Trugglemat, Spitting Pennies, What is This?, and both Alpha City Comics.  I will also have these exciting new titles:

  oh boy, Comics! #1, which debuted at MIX three weeks ago, is a 106-page collection of previously printed comics that have appeared as free comics, online comics and anthology pieces that have not been readily available.

  write now!, debuting at SPX is my newest contribution to the paper-surprise-in-the-mail service, Uncle Envelope.  It's a love letter/tutorial on self publishing for kids, and comes with a zine written by the main character of the comic.

  Also debuting at SPX will be a comic I'll only have available at shows, Secret Formula.  It's an adventure comic printed as a scroll and packaged in a glass tube.  The secret formula is revealed at the end of the strip, and is one you can use.

  I'm excited to be sharing a table with Kenan Rubenstein, a good friend and a great comics artist.  Sharing our room will also be Sam Sharpe.  He'll have a new gag comic and t-shirts?! We'll also labeling our hotel room the "nerd room," a space folks can visit on Saturday night.  While other rooms will have raucous parties and have management called on them, our goal is to be a space for those not interested in getting drunk (though it wont be a dry room, neccessarily) or being loud, but those who'd like to read comics, draw, trade comics, a pretty much nerd out on comics.  It's kinda like the quiet car on the commuter train.

  Speaking of commuter trains, Kenan and I will be taking a mass transit adventure, traveling by commuter train to Baltimore on Friday evening for Atomic Book's SPX-Plosion!  It should be tons of fun.  Especially because one of my best friends from college, Mischlepity (aka Schlep, aka Doghed) now lives in Baltimore will be hanging out with us!

If you're in the general area of North Bethesda, get thee to SPX this weekend!

mix and spx

That's me at the end of MiX, the Minneapolis Indie Xpo, holding my comic that debuted there, Oh Boy, Comics! #1.  MiX was tons of fun! You can check out photos from me and other folks who went on the MiX flickr pool.

I had the great fortune to have Sam Sharpe (above) join me as a traveling buddy and table-neighbor.  He's a real stand up guy, and I had a lot of fun with him.  We left Chicago on a megabus at 10:30 Friday night, getting into the City of Lakes at 5:30 am.  We spent the entire weekend together, and I did not for one minute get tired of his company.  Conversation revolved almost entirely around comics, both singing their praises as well as venting frustrations, and gossiping, it was lots of fun.  On Sunday Sam and I explored a small chunk of the city, walking from the Seward Cafe to the Minneapolis Institute of Art to Big Brain Comics.

I also got to hang out with some really great folks, like Dylan Williams, Aaron Renier (who traveled back to Chicago with me and Sam on the bus), Noah Van Sciver, John Procellino, Amanda Elliott, Justin Madson, Lale Westvind & Ian McDuffie and Jeremy Tinder!  But the kids that took the cake this weekend were my and Sam's (and Dylan's, and John's,  and Noah's!) hosts, Raighne and Meghan Hogan, known to the comics world as 2D Cloud, producers of the Good Minnesotan.  Look, here they are now:

 
They were super friendly, welcoming and accommodating, and hilarious and fun to be around.   They're exhibiting at the Madison Zine Fest in October.  I will be too, so I'm excited to see them again!

The show itself was really well put together by Sarah Morean and Andy Krueger.  They clearly cared about the exhibitors, providing us with pizza (regular, vegan, or gluten free depending on your dietary wants and needs), and fans to keep us cool.  It was hot and muggy that day, but the room I was in stayed nice and cool all day.  The venue was fun, and the attendees seemed really interested in comics, even if they were not regular consumers.  Hats off to Sarah and Andy, they did a bang up job, and deserve a round of applause.  I'm looking forward to MiX 2011!

No sleep for the comics maker, though.  In just two weeks I'll be jumping on a train to our nation's capitol to exhibit for the first time at the Small Press Expo (SPX) in North Bethesda.  I've volunteered at this show -which is commonly known as the premier independent comics show in the country- for the past two years, but now I'll be sharing a table with my comics kindred spirit Kenan Rubenstein, and zinester extraordinaire Caitlin M!  I'll be debuting my Uncle Envelope comic write now! which is both a love letter and tutorial to self-publishing.  I'll also be debuting Secret Formula, an adventure comic, which I probably will only sell at shows due to its secret odd packaging.  I'm still drawing it, but here's a preview of the comic:

Sock-Monster production will (already has) suffer from preparation for SPX, but I'll try my hardest to eek some comics.  That's all for now!

capitol man #200

It may be the 611th Sock-Monster comic, but it's the 200th comic featuring Capitol Man. The only other supporting character in the comic who has appeared more than Capitol Man is Skig, who has 18 appearances over everyone's favorite villain.

http://www.sock-monster.com

sock-monster #610

http://www.sock-monster.com

oh boy!

mix one week!

I'm about to bind my new comic, Oh Boy, Comics! #1, above is a photo of 20 copies of the comic waiting to get cut, folded, sewn and then attached to the cover (yet to be determined how thread? glue?). Each cover will have an original drawing and the title will be hand written.  It's 7 signatures, full of 106 pages of comics!  

The comic will be debuting at the Minneapolis Indie Xpo (or MiX) next Saturday at the Soap Factory.

I'm really excited about the other exhibitors at MiX! Justin Madson, Sarah Becan, Aaron Renier, Sam Sharpe, 2D Cloud, Sparkplug Comic Books, B.T. Livermore, Evan Dahm, Ed Choy Moorman, Sean Lynch,  Ian McDuffie, John Porcellino, Chris Yates, Lale Westvind, Noah Van Schiver, Tom Kaczynski, and all the folks I haven't met yet!

I'm having all my original Sock-Monster buttons reprinted, hopefully they'll be done in time.  I'll have all my other comics for sale, and a the free comic, Seven Weeks, which I wrote for the post-apocalyptic reading I participated in at Matilda's earlier this summer.

And last, but not necessarily least, the Donut Cooperative will be there selling doughnuts, including...VEGAN DOUGHNUTS!  If I wasn't already planning to exhibit at the show, I would have signed up with that anouncement. Seriously folks, if you ever want me to do something, and I'm resisting, get your hands on some vegan doughnuts, I'll do pretty much anything for you.

sock-monster #609

http://www.sock-monster.com

sock-monster #608

This comic has absolutely nothing to do with the copious amount of Tegan and Sara interviews I may or may not have been watching on youtube.

http://www.sock-monster.com

late

http://www.sock-monster.com

I promise to update more regularly.

I guarantee.

I make no actual guarantee.

sock-monster #606

http://www.sock-monster.com

Two Sock-Monster comics I forgot to post on this here blog.  

comics reading recap

I hosted a comics reading at the Fun House last Saturday.  It went really well, about 25 folks showed up to hear four very different readings!

Sara Drake went first, performing a dramatization of the comic she's working on right now.  A conversation between a garden (played by Sara), a sullen garden hose (played by Krystal DiFronzo), and a cynical moth (played by Cassandra Troyan).  It was beautifully poetic, and may or may not have included confetti, I didn't see it happen, but there sure was some on the floor at the end of the night.

Rickey Gonzales went next and straight-up READ his comic Concepcion out loud.  Rickey's comics actually work really well in this delivery, as they could be considered sequential illustrated essays rather than comics (in the traditional sense of the word).  Rickey's one of my favorite comics writers, and I was reminded how much I love his writing from his reading on Saturday.

Aaron Renier followed Rickey, and read the first handful of pages from The Unsinkable Walker Bean, which comes out in just a matter of WEEKS!  Aaron's reading got me so excited about this book I nearly exploded.  I can not wait to read it!  Aaron's piece had a lot of dialog, and he read each character in a different voice.  Hilarity ensued when he couldn't keep the voices straight for any of the characters.  It was great.

Edie Fake capped the night off with a reading from his series, Gaylord Phoenix, which will be collected into a book from Secret Acres at the end of the year.  Edie wasn't sure about how he would narrate the slides, as the dialog is minimal in the series, but I think his guidance of the audience through the beautiful world of the Gaylord Phoenix was really well done, directing us with enough space to let us explore the amazing landscapes Edie created.  Just like with Aaron's reading, Edie's presentation left me brimming with anticipation for the book!

After the reading, everyone hung out for a little while, ate popcorn and complained about how hot my apartment was.  So I told them all to scram.  The end.

comics reading to-night

I just wanted to remind folks about the comic reading tonight at the fun house:

Comics Reading

at the Fun House

Saturday, July 24

8pm

1743 N Mozart

Free!

No drugs or Alcohol please!

 

Readers:

Sara Drake (Arty Party)

Edie Fake (Gaylord Phoenix)

Rickey Gonzales (Victims at the End of the World)

Aaron Renier (Spiral-Bound)

Sam Sharpe (These Yams Are Delicious)

You'll be happy you attendededededededededed.

sock-monster #603

http://www.sock-monster.com

sock-monster #602

http://www.sock-monster.com

Oh man, sorry this one is late.  I was really busy these past couple of days and drawing a new comic completely slipped my mind.  I realized it was an odd day in July on my way to work this morning.  The good news is there'll be a new comic tomorrow night too!

sock-monster 601

http://www.sock-monster.com

sock-monster #600!

This is the 600th Sock-Monster comic to be uploaded to Sock-Monster.com!  

This would have been more exciting if this post had been made on schedule in May of 2008.  No point to dwell on poorly updated webcomics.  If every webcomic artist made a blog post lamenting unexpected hiatuses (I was really hoping the plural would have been hiati), the internet would crash.

That being said I am really excited and energized for this run of Sock-Monster comics.  The latest series of comics started just two weeks ago, but making new Sock-Monsters has fit easily into my schedule, and I'm enjoying drawing them, and I hope you're enjoying reading them.  I should hit #700 in February if I stay consistent with my output.  If anyone wants to keep my feet to the flames, feel free to do so.

two sock-monsters!

http://www.sock-monster.com

comics reading at the fun house

I'm orgainzing a comics reading at my house, the Fun House!

Comics Reading

at the Fun House

Saturday, July 24

8pm

1743 N Mozart

Free!

No drugs or Alcohol please!

 

Readers:

Sara Drake (Arty Party)

Edie Fake (Gaylord Phoenix)

Rickey Gonzales (Victims at the End of the World)

Aaron Renier (Spiral-Bound)

Sam Sharpe (These Yams Are Delicious)

It'll be great!

sock-monster #596

http://www.sock-monster.com

sock-monster #595

http://www.sock-monster.com

Upcoming events:

Thursday, July 8, 8 or 9pm Zine Reading at Matilda's.

The theme is the Apocalypse. If you show up I'll give you a copy of the new minicomic I'm reading there.

Saturday, July 10, 7 or 8pm, James P.B. Duffy opens for Harry and The Potters.

Harry and the Potters (from Massachusetts)
Saint Seneca (from Ohio)
JAMES P.B. DUFFY! (Chicago)
All real numbers (Chicago)
July 10, 7pm
The Moving Castle

2769 W Henry Ct

There's probably a suggested donation of some amount of money for the traveling bands.

Maybe next time I'll post when I'm not terribly tired.

what a day what a day

I'm going to try to write this blog post, the explosions in my neighborhood at 1:30 am will help keep me up.

I woke up at 6 this morning and jumped on my bicycle, I proceeded to ride it 26 miles, moving my brand new dining room table (thanks EK) from ravenswood to Logan Square.  First I had to fetch my friend Dan's bike trailer in uptown, so there was a lot of back and forth.

  Then I went to work.

Then I got home and I...FINISHED MY MINICOMIC!

I'm really excited about it.  But unless you subscribe to Uncle Envelope by the end of July, you'll  have to wait until mid September before it's available through me (it will debut at SPX, and be available on etsy the following week).

  Then I uploaded a new Sock-Monster comic

THEN!  I uploaded my new fromthewell.info website!

WHAT?!  That's it, I'm going to bed.

sock-monster #593

http://www.sock-monster.com

I'm really hoping this'll be the start of extended regular updates for everyone's favorite favorite shapeless monster.  I'm definitely in a strong current of productivity, I'm finishing up a new minicomic today, and probably uploading a new website design for from the well (so look at its ugly predecessor while you can), and have already started drawing my next minicomic (which will probably only be available at shows and maybe Quimby's), and planning another.  Kevin will be back in Chicago soon, possibly with a final script for Alpha City Comics #3.

  If plans go according to themselves, I should also be exhibiting at three shows in as many months starting in August.

indie spinner rack podcast

My favorite podcast, Indie Spinner Rack has just released episode #177, which features...me?!  Host Charlito and comics artist, Colin Panetta ambushed me at my table and had me read What is This? 

It's a big show, and includes interviews with some amazing comics artists who I both dig as creators and as friends, Kenan Rubenstein, Liz Baillie, and Bill Ayers & Ryan Alexander-Tanner! 

The podcast is lots of fun for folks who are really excited about independent comics, Mr. Phil and Charlito are so passionate and knowledgeable about comics.  Their forums harbor a really positive community in which professionals and nobodies rub shoulder to shoulder talking about all aspects of comics, from reading them, making them and promoting them.

in loving memory of skitch patriarco

 You might remember the post I made in memory of my old feline roommate Oscar.  Sadly, this post is a memorial for his adoptive brother, Skitch.

  Skitch died yesterday, quite suddenly, without any warning signs of ill health.  He was found curled up on a stack of boxes.  I'd like to think that due to its sudden nature, Skitch didn't suffer, and maybe he went quietly in his sleep.  He was such a great cat, and such a nervous cat, that it's nice to imagine -which is all I can do- that he never saw it coming. 

  I'm a fan of cats, I worked as a janitor for a no-kill cat shelter for almost two years, I grew up with cats, and have lived with cats most of my life.  People have often heard me declare, without reservation that Skitch was the best of them all.  I think what got me about him was his dependence on those who loved him.  He was terrified of strangers, and would quickly bolt out of any open space when more than one stranger was in the apartment.  But once he got to know you, look out, because he wanted to be showered with affection from dawn until...well, there really was no limit to how much love you could show him. 

  He was extremely understimulated, you could pet him as rough and as fast as you wanted, HE LOVED IT!  He would melt in your lap as you pet him (or rubbed his ears, he was a big fan of that).   Once melted, he was pretty much just a sack of bones, you could pick him up and cradle him in your arms like a baby, and rub his belly and under his chin.  He dug it all.  He would purr so much while you were doing it.

  He did have a whiny side to him, the cries he would make in the middle of the night to be let into the bedroom, to be let out of the bedroom, to be petted.  If the pathetic mews didn't work, he went into knock-anything-that-I-can-off-any-surface-higher-than-the-floor mode. 

  Skitch had a really great mom, who's going to miss him a whole lot more than I will, which is a scary thought, because I already miss him a whole lot.  He was scheduled to move to St. Louis in  July.  In a way it's best he didn't end up making the trek, he is terrified of leaving the apartment.  In his last move, several years ago, he broke down the door to two different cat carriers we had before we even got him out the door.  A scheme of wrapping him up in a blanket, and holding him tight and praying to god he didn't get free in the block-long walk to Leah's new apartment was the ultimate solution.  He then spent a better part of a week hiding in a suitcase full of underwear.

  In closing I'd like to present to you a song I made up, and would sing to him from time to time.  I feel like it embodies my perception of the guy.  As luck would have it I saw him just this past Saturday and had one last chance to sing it to him.  I'm gonna miss that dude something fierce.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
His name is Skitch
He's a big old Skitch
He's the Skitchest Skitch in the whole wide Skitch
And he Skitches Skitch
When he Skitches Skitch
He's the Skitchiest Skitch in the whole wide SKIIIIIIIIITCH!

short pants press expo

This Saturday I'll be joining Sarah Becan and Robert Stevenson at Challengers Comics + Conversation for the first ever

1845 N Western Ave 2R
(near the Western stop on the Blue Line O'Hare branch)
May 22, 2010 1-4pm

We'll be hanging out, signing books, I might bake something for it.  Free Sock-Monster stickers too!

The Stumptown Comics Fest is this weekend!  Stumptown holds a special place in my heart, because it was my first comics show I ever went to (let alone exhibited at).  It's a fun show where most folks are just there to have a good time and support the strong comics community in Portland.  I'll be at table 53B, sharing the table with the Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC for short), a really awesome space in Portland.  So stop by if you can, tickets are reasonable, and I'll have at least a dozen vegan Voodoo Doughnuts behind my table.  If I'm goofy, give me sugar!

I realize I never posted an update about how the zine fest went (awesome), or MoCCA (lots of fun).  I'm gearing up to move into the Fun House, and need to start studying what's going on in Tokyo for my travel there in early May. 

When I get back from Japan (mid May), I'm going to refocus my efforts, focusing on drawing comics that have been screaming to get out on paper or the internet. So expect a high output in the second half of the year, though a fairly light con schedule.

Cool!  I gotta get to binding comics for this weekend.  Stop by, say hi, grab a free button with the image above (it GLOWS IN THE DARK)!