oh boy, COMICS!

plot #2

2011-12-10T23:59:00.000-06:00

I've been quite busy helping plan the 2012 Chicago Zine Fest, and running around the Midwest to various comics/zine shows, and hanging out with my awesome parents. So the Plot #2, Your Curiosity Will Get You Killed has been progressing very...very...slowly. But I am still working on it, and yesterday I had a few hours on an Amtrak train up to Milwaukee, so I worked on some cover designs for the issue. Here are some of the better designs I've come up with so far:

onward!

2011-11-25T17:54:00.000-06:00

Saturday, November 26th (which, depending on when you read this is tomorrow, today or in the past) is the date during which the 3rd annual Genghis Con will be strutting its stuff all over Waterloo Ave in Cleveland, Ohio. I exhibited at the show during its first year, and am excited to return, this year (smuggling Sam Sharpe in my suitcase).

Here are the "deets:"

The Genghis Con

Saturday, November 26, 2011

11am - 6pm

Beachland Ballroom

15711 Waterloo Rd.

Cleveland, OH, USA, Planet Earth (sorry Martians)

Flyer by Kevin Fagan (related to Matt?)

It'll be tons of fun, so if you're near the Cuyahoga river, follow it to Cleveland, and the Beachland Ballroom.

Sam will be sharing a table with me and have his brand new (and freakin awesome) comic, Viewotron #1, which will soon be a name that is mentioned in the same breath as Optic Nerve, or Ganges, or maybe Betty and Veronica Digest.

I will have the Plot #1 which I hope you will read and enjoy.

no debut

2011-11-03T11:11:00.000-05:00

In my last blog I excitedly announced the debut of oh boy, COMICS! #2 at this weekend's Minneapolis Indie Xpo (free and open to the public, come one come all!). Unfortunately that debut will not be happening.

UGH! I was so close! I staid up so late two nights ago, pasting up the master (and the master for a new free minicomic, Not Worth It, Number Fun!). Looking at the past year's "extra" comics I had drawn (nearly 50 pages!), all together in one volume was really exciting. It -along with Not Worth It, and a near-constant listening of They Might Be Giants' new Album Raises New and Troubling Questions (which is awesome)- had reminded me how important drawing unimportant comics is as a way to keep oneself fresh while working on larger more significant projects.

but then my backpack got stolen yesterday.

contents:
my sketchbook!

my computer! (if you see a dirty white macbook with a Quimby's sticker covering the Apple logo, that's mine)

some items not worth noting -like left over Halloween Candy, a zine I was reading, a CD I never got to listen to, oh and

MY MASTERS FOR THESE TWO COMICS I WAS NEARLY FINISHED PASTING UP!!!

I'm quite angry about this, but more than anything I'm really disappointed these comics wont be available at MIX.

The good news is, I will still be exhibiting at MIX with my good friend Sam Sharpe, and I'll have copies of the Plot #1, which is only a few months old, and I think a pretty good comic.

31773490715 17413 3x90

2011-10-31T00:15:00.002-05:00

****EDIT: I wanted to let folks know MIX is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC THIS WEEKEND 10-5 Sat & Sun****
November 5 & 6 I will be exhibiting at the Minneapolis Indie Expo! I'm really excited for this show, last year's inaugural MIX was a highlight of the 2010 con/fest/expos I went to. The folks up there in Minnesota are quite nice, and they seem to have a really supportive community of comics makers up there. Something we seemed to notice last year was the number of folks who showed up to the show who said they weren't really into comics, but wanted to check the show out anyway. That's a really pleasant difference from a lot of other comics shows or zine fests.

I'm excited to be able to show off the Plot #1 to more folks. I'm also going to be debuting issue #2 of oh boy, COMICS!, my odds-and-ends anthology. It will be about half the size of the ridiculously sized #1 (which itself may soon get a bit of a trim and rearrangement of material), but it's full of exciting stuff you probably haven't seen.

I'm excited too, because I'll be crashing at the home of Raighne & Meghan Hogan, two top-notch comics kids with whom I stayed last year (and then in March, Raighne crashed with me for the Chicago Zine Fest). I'm excited to explore some new vegan options in the city. I'll also be checking out on of the Twin Cities' two Roller Derby leagues, the North Star Roller Girls (I'm rooting for Minneapolis' other Roller Derby League, the Minnesota Roller Girls in the following weekend's WFTDA Championships)!

So if you're near the Twin Cities come by the Minneapolis Indie Expo, I'll be at table 51 hanging out with fellow Chicagoans, Sam Sharpe, Corinne Mucha, and Sarah Becan.

the plot

2011-09-25T01:02:00.000-05:00

Oh hey, I totally have a new minicomic!

The Plot #1 A Monster in the Forbidden Forest debuted at SPX, and I got rid of all 40 copies I brought down (a trash can helped). Kenan (who has taken on the job as my editor, even though I'm not paying him) has already written his review of the comic in a larger post about SPX. He summed up the story better than I've been able to. While you're on his blog, definitely read more of his posts, he's far more eloquent that I am, and pretty insightful with his observations, while I putter around with tweets like "Roller Derby is cool."

It's 40 pages of adventure with a stamped cover (I got custom stamps made for this thing)!

My website is in complete disarray, so I'm not going to make any promises to make it available for purchase on my web-empire any time soon. BUT! You can order it from Quimby's Bookstore, I spend 40 hours a week there, so there's no chance of it going out of stock any time soon. While you're there, order more great comics from the store, we've got TONS, and the shipping rate doesn't change until your order goes over $30.

I will also be selling/trading it at the following events this fall: Madison Zine Fest, Milwaukee Zine Fest, Minneapolis Indie Xpo, and any other events that start with the letter M (I'll even bring some to the WFTDA's North Central Division Regional tournament, Monumental Mayhem).

This comic is going to be at least 10 issues long, and the more I write, the more I realize it's probably going to be longer than that. I'm in for a loooooooong involvement with this story, and I am quite excited about that.

Actually, maybe I should take a minute and explain where this comic came from. I was flying back to Chicago from the Stumptown Comics Fest, thinking about my comics plans, as I really hadn't had time to draw any comics since the Fall (organizing a zine fest is really hard). I had grand plans for a year-long comics experiment, inspired by Liz Baillie's Minicomic of the Month Club, and writing a dark, scary, gruesome graphic novel about the things that scared me as a child and as an adult. To be honest, I was not excited about these serious endeavors. Reading the few minicomics I picked up at Stumptown, I started dreaming of what I would enjoy drawing, images came to my mind. A bug the size of a house! A stranger falling from the sky! Telepathic abilities! Aliens! A strange secluded town! After thinking of these things, I couldn't shake them, and over a few weeks of working it out on paper, a story developed (though not all of these elements made it into the story). So I dropped the serious comics I was going to make, and started drawing fun comics! And that's what the Plot is.

I'm currently writing issue 3, and editing issue 2. I'm actually kind of editing it while I draw it, and have 24 pages penciled. Here's the first one:

Great!

x-men

2011-09-23T01:40:00.001-05:00

I promise my SPX blog is coming soon. Maybe not at 1:30 in the morning.

Today I had kind of a rough 2nd half of my shift at work. I finally got out of work and headed over to my favorite coffee shop. Got a coffee, and a lemon poppy seed scone, and read some fun comics (even though I had my newly procured copy of Habibi on me). I read the latest issue of Sweet Tooth by Jeff Lemire and the first volume of the new printing of Grant Morrison's New X-Men (I know I'm supposed to be boycotting Marvel, especially their Kirby titles...sorry) comics from the early (mid?) 2000's until they kicked us out of the shop.

So when I got home I drew this drawing of Wolverine and Cyclops fighting a (baby?) Sentinel. I'm not super impressed with the outcome, but the process was a lot of fun:

dylan williams lives

2011-09-14T11:04:00.000-05:00

Most people involved in the indie comics scene knows by now of the passing of Dylan Williams on Saturday. Like many people, I learned about it Saturday night at the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD. It hit those of us who knew him really hard, even those like me who only had the good fortune of a handful of encounters. Dylan's death is devastating to those of us who knew him, even more painful for those who were close to him, and is felt by those who have read, enjoyed and been influenced by the comics he facilitated for the past two decades.

But Dylan lives in every resourceful zinester who wants to take publishing into their own hand.

Dylan lives in the disembodied laughter you hear coming from the din in the spaces -large or small- that for a weekend host an indie comics convention.

Dylan lives in the cartoonist who is better at promoting their friends' comics than their own.

Dylan lives in the pages of comics put out by publishers he'd humbly call his peers, who in turn would call him a role model.

Dylan lives in the electric pride felt in the applause at the Ignatz award when we celebrate one of our own for their outstanding work.

Dylan lives in the packages mailed out by distros who -if they were doing it for money- would have stopped a long while ago.

Dylan lives in every trade made between two self-publishers.

Dylan lives in the satisfying moment when you close the back cover of a comic book and think to yourself, "that was really good."

That is how I will remember Dylan, who I jump at the chance to call a friend, an inspiration and a role model. The pain of his passing will last a long time. The love he had for comics, its creators and its community will far out last that pain.

Dylan's family still needs help paying for medical bills and now, his funeral. Consider supporting Dylan by buying some fantastic comics. For more reflections on Dylan's life and passing, visit the Comics Reporter's Collective Memory page.

You are missed, Dylan.

scanner hiccup #2

2011-08-26T01:30:00.000-05:00

Here's the other scanner hiccup I ran into scanning elements for the cover for the Plot #1.

On a more serious note, Dylan Williams is fighting cancer right now, and he needs support from folks. "Who is Dylan Williams," you ask?! To anyone who's spent more than five minutes with the guy, Dylan is a friend, and I've had the pleasure of hanging out with him on a few occasions, so I know from experience. He's a cartoonist, an organizer for the Portland Zine Symposium, and he runs a gallery in Portland, Oregon, but he's probably best known as the main force behind Sparkplug Comic Books! Sparkplug is one of the best small presses putting out comics today (and when I say "best" I really mean it...and when I say "small" I really mean that too).

Those who are "interested" by this "graphic novel thing," or those who mainly buy comics from Marvel or DC probably have never heard of Sparkplug (or its peers, Tugboat, Koyama, AdHouse, Picturebox, 2DCloud, LaMano, Grimalkin, Kilgore, or Chicago's own Shortpants), but to those who dig just beneath the surface of the world of comics know Sparkplug puts out some amazing comics, and support those artists who the bigger indie publishers (Fantagraphics, Drawn and Quarterly, Pantheon, Top Shelf) tend to ignore. Actually, a lot of those who started off with Sparkplug have moved on to larger publishing houses, which -Dylan has stated- is part of Sparkplug's design.

Dylan has spent most of the past two decades supporting comics that deserved attention, and now he needs some support from us who have benefited from his contributions. If you've got some extra cash, go over to Sparkplug, and buy some comics, they're amazing! You could probably pick them at random, and be blown away by the quality!

scanner hiccup #1

2011-08-24T09:16:00.000-05:00

This happened when we were scanning elements for the Plot's cover last night, it only happened twice, but both times it created great results:

support yer local businesses, friends

2011-08-19T22:05:00.000-05:00

I just had a pretty terrible errand run. It started off alright, as I made a huge leap in getting the cover for the Plot printed! That got me really excited. Then I got a flat tire as I pulled up to Paper Boy (seen below).

Paper Boy is my favorite paper store. Full of fun objects related to making marks on paper. They had some beautiful paper, and all of their staff was so friendly, down to earth and wicked knowledgeable! As my bike limped up to the store, I could see through the windows that something was missing. Everything. They closed!

I went across the street to talk to the folks over at Paper Boy's sister store, the toy store, Uncle Fun. Turns out Paper Boy closed about a month ago. What a sad thing to learn. They said if I needed paper, I'd have to go north on Southport to Paper Source. So I did (after buying erasers shaped like a doughnut and a peanut). I walked my half-inflated bike up to Paper Source which seems to be ground zero for wedding planning which was kind of the exact opposite of Paper Boy's MO. I had a lot of questions for the store, and one employee was answering my questions adequately, but then apparently she had an appointment, and the manager took over helping me out in the following manner:

Quite loudly she asked me (as she did a pair of women before me) "What are we looking for today?" She then was pretty fake and difficult to talk to in a normal volume. When I was checking out, she tried to make small talk and asked if I was from New England. I told her Western New York, and she stated that:

Western New York is upstate New York, and therefore:
Practically New England.

I then actually -sort of uncharacteristically- informed her I thought she was wrong on both counts. New York is technically a Mid-Atlantic state, and I consider upstate New York as anything north of the southern shore of Lake Ontario (I know a lot of people will disagree and call "upstate" as anything north of New York City, but friends, THAT'S THE REST OF THE STATE (not counting Long Island)! But still, how can an area that's an hour away from Ohio be more New England than NYC, which is an hour away from New England?!) She grinned and agreed with me as she was walking away from me, loudly asking someone who had just walked through the door "And what are we looking for today?!" and pointing out the new academic calendars that they had just gotten in.

Ridiculous!

Then I walked to the bus stop, and had my bus driver honk and yell at me several times as I put my bike in the bus's bike rack, telling me I was "reading the directions wrong" when he really should have just told me my back wheel wasn't in the groove it needed to be in.

But even that wasn't as bad as finding out your favorite paper store has closed, and your option is a cookie-cutter wedding center. I work at a local business, and I feel invested in its success, so I recognize I'm pretty biased, but it tears me up that a high quality quirky paper store is gone, and a national chain store, devoid of a real personality stands strong. One moment, as I place this soap box on a this high horse...please, friends, support your local businesses!

Next time you walk up to a starbucks, look to see if there's an independent coffee shop around. When you need to print your zine, don't go to Kinko's, go to a local copy shop, they're probably cheaper. Don't buy your next book on amazon, go visit a bookstore. You'll probably be interacting with someone more passionate about their store and its products, and you'll be keeping your money in your city's economy, which helps you! I know situations present themselves in which national chains are unavoidable, but we've gotta keep the good stores thriving.

Jeesh enough rambling, sorry that I- oh, wait a minute...this isn't yelp.

area cartoonist makes animals talk

2011-08-11T09:53:00.000-05:00

I've been a fan of the local publication, AREA Chicago for years, and I've contributed (lousy) illustrations to the biannual newspaper twice before. AREA stands for Art Research Education and Activism, and each issue focuses on a particular topic related to the city, with the intention of creating a multi-faceted cultural and social map of the city. The most recent issue of AREA came out on the issues of immigration and migration, and I have a comic in it!

If the description of AREA sounds a little dry, or pretty intellectual, there's a reason for that. It kind of is. Throughout its history, it's been run by kids who are pretty brilliant. The type of people you kind of have to make an effort to keep up with in a conversation, so it's not a fun read. It's a great read, but definitely not one I would describe as fun. (Recent things I've read that I would consider fun: Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin & Jill Thompson, the Convalescent by Jessica Anthony, Love and Rockets by Jaime Hernandez, Snarked #0 by Roger Langridge, several comics by Jason)

I was asked for this issue to document a community event at Mess Hall in Rogers Park for which participants were invited to bring a border-crossing tool to help build a border-crossing tool kit. It was a great casual gathering, which started with potluck snacks & socializing. Later, each participant presented their tool, most of which were not physical. I took notes through the whole thing, and then tried to figure out how to present it.

I finally landed on a fairly straight-forward presentation of each person presenting their tool, but instead of trying to remember what people looked like, or trying to imagine a group of people, I decided to use five migratory animals as their spokespeople. Hopefully it added some goofiness into the discussion, and some levity into a fairly serious publication.

AREA Chicago #11, IM/MIGRATIONS, a local reader about how borders are made, experienced and challenged through human movement is available for free at many locations throughout the city! Unfortunately the comic is not available on their website, though most of the rest of the issue is, including an essay about Garlic and Greens, a food histories project I've been volunteering for, and which you can participate in by sharing your soul food stories.

in the mix

2011-08-10T10:18:00.000-05:00

Woo Hoo! I've just been confirmed as an exhibitor for MIX, the Minneapolis Indie Expo! I'll be sharing a table with my pal Sam Sharpe. We exhibited last year and had a lot of fun in Minneapolis, and hope to repeat the good times. Check out the exhibitor page, there are tons of really exciting folks at this year's fest, so if you're anywhere near the twin cities (AKA North America!), you should totally stop by the Soap Factory November 5 & 6.

I've been cramming my days with inking my new minicomic, the Plot #1, a Monster in the Forbidden Forest! (see sample above) I'm on track to having it done by SPX, which is happening EXACTLY one month from today in Bethesda, Maryland. It should be tons of fun, as I'm exhibiting with my partner in crime, Kenan Rubenstein (who's been acting as an editor for the Plot), and Matthew Ocasio who edits the zine the Matter. We'll be the sharp kids with the awesome comics there, look for us.

In other news, the two festivals I help organize are both announcing their dates for 2012. The Chicago Zine Fest will be happening March 9 & 10, and the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE) will be taking place June 16 & 17. So mark your calendars, and buy your train tickets, both shows are gonna be HOT!

OK, enough gabbing. Back to work, jerk!

comics comics comics

2011-06-22T15:27:00.000-05:00

I took this week off from work, and instead of traveling to see my family or running off to some convention, I'm staying put in Chicago, and primarily working on a new minicomic, the Plot #1 (that name seems to be sticking, but could easily be replaced with a title that might actually make the comic sound interesting). Above is a photo from a few days ago when I took thirteen penciled pages that share the same setting, and made sure the environment looked the same across all the pages.

I am just past the half way point with penciling this first issue, below is page 36 of the 68-page comic. For the most part I've been really excited with the story (I am also spending hours writing issue #2), and really happy with my drawings. This isn't a normal situation for me. Usually I'm fairly unhappy or at the very least unimpressed with almost every aspect of the comics I work on. So either this means I've developed as an artist or I am oblivious of this new comic's flaws.

I've been listening to a lot of interviews with comics artists I highly respect, like Sarah Oleksyk and Noah Van Sciver, as well as the Plinkett reviews of the Star Wars prequels (which are pretty amazing). All of them talked about what they liked in story telling and what they hated in bad stories. It made me wonder if I was actually writing a terrible story that might someday be used as an example of a stupid comic, or that could receive such a destructive review as Plinkett's. It definitely helped bring that familiar sense of self-doubt back to my drawing and writing this week! So, thanks for the help, guys.

This photo includes the thumbnail for the page, which shows how I write the comic, and its translation into the final page.

Hopefully this'll be ready for SPX in September.

we're all gonna die

2011-05-28T00:11:00.000-05:00

Above are a couple panels from the minicomic I'm working on. I'm expecting it'll be about the same length as Spitting Pennies. I'm about half-way through the thumbnails for the first of five issues. I really want to have it done by SPX this year (which is about 100 days away), but I'm not going to sacrifice the comic's quality to have it done in time. I do plan on having new stuff at SPX, though. New free comics, a brand new Sock-Monster comic on a button, hopefully a split minicomic with a good friend we've been working on for months and months...

In other news, we've been digging a rain garden at my house, and today we finished the digging! Now we just gotta lay some compost and seeds, and hope it rains. If the weather keeps going the way it's been going the past couple months, that last part should not be a problem.

Jacked on caffeine,
neil.

free comics! ...in the past. new comics! ...eventually.

2011-05-12T10:37:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday was Free Comic Book Day (FCBD (pronounced fick-bud, for you uninitiated (not really))). Sam Sharpe, Erik Schneider and I put together a free minicomic we put around comic book stores in Chicago (Quimby's, Chicago Comics, Thirdcoast Comics, Challengers). We named it Handout Comics. We made a stencil cover, for it. Here are a couple pictures from the process:

Erik folding the comic's guts!

Finished copies of the comic (we made 200)!

Sam cutting the image stencil!

Sam printing the image stencil!

The whole process was a lot of fun, and I hope folks enjoyed the comics!

A while ago, you might have noticed me mentioning the Minicomic of the Month Club. I won't go into its details, because I've decided to scrap the plan (which was going to commence in June). There was very little interest (probably due to very little promotion by me), and I myself -while looking forward to the project- was not excited about it.

But on the way back from Stumptown Comics Fest (which will receive a review soon), I started coming up with imagery that was pretty exciting, and slowly -over the course of a few weeks- a story grew, and has stolen most of my free time and wandering mind. So I'm excited to mention (which I'm sure will back-fire later down the road), I've started working on a minicomic series that will be a lot of fun to draw, and hopefully a lot of fun to read. It will probably be 5 issues long, and I will hopefully have the first issue done by SPX in September. Below is one of the initial sparks of the story, the working title of which is the Plot.

just ignore the lack of posts

2011-04-22T10:43:00.000-05:00

I'll get to posting about Stumptown and the Chicago Zine Fest eventually, but for now:

James P.B. Duffy is playing the show mentioned above at the Dollhouse (1656 W Division #2) at 7pm on May 1st. There's a $5 suggested donation. Can't remember who James P.B. Duffy is?

Neither can we! Today Josh and I are practicing for the first time in a long time, so you know the show that's in about a week will be so good.

Our myspace page is at http://www.myspace.com/jamespbduffy

Hope to see you see us make fools of ourselves.

more sock-monster!

2011-01-13T08:43:00.000-06:00

hey guys! have you seen this Sock-Monster comic yet? I bet you haven't!

oh brother.

2 sock-monsters!

2011-01-06T01:49:00.000-06:00

http://www.sock-monster.com

Also, if you want to support an amazing comic book getting printed, consider dropping a dime on Poison the Cure #3's Kickstarter campaign.

sock-monster #631

2011-01-01T23:20:00.002-06:00

http://www.sock-monster.com

happy new year!

chicago zine fest 2011

2010-12-15T10:14:00.000-06:00

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

2010-12-03T01:31:00.000-06:00

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

2010-11-28T00:20:00.000-06:00

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

2010-10-19T11:09:00.000-05:00

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

2010-09-30T17:15:00.001-05:00

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

2010-09-27T10:55:00.001-05:00

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

2010-09-14T15:03:00.001-05:00

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!

2010-09-08T08:40:00.000-05:00

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

2010-08-26T00:12:00.000-05:00

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

2010-08-18T00:57:00.000-05:00

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

2010-08-15T21:53:00.002-05:00

http://www.sock-monster.com

oh boy!

mix one week!

2010-08-14T17:50:00.000-05:00

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

2010-08-14T14:58:00.002-05:00

http://www.sock-monster.com

sock-monster #608

2010-08-12T01:30:00.000-05:00

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

2010-08-10T00:23:00.000-05:00

http://www.sock-monster.com

I promise to update more regularly.

I guarantee.

I make no actual guarantee.

sock-monster #606

2010-07-30T23:30:00.002-05:00

http://www.sock-monster.com

2010-07-30T12:28:00.000-05:00

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

comics reading recap

2010-07-29T11:58:00.000-05:00

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

2010-07-24T14:05:00.000-05:00

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

2010-07-23T01:57:00.002-05:00

http://www.sock-monster.com

sock-monster #602

2010-07-22T01:43:00.000-05:00

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

2010-07-19T11:32:00.003-05:00

http://www.sock-monster.com

sock-monster #600!

2010-07-17T10:27:00.001-05:00

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!

2010-07-15T09:57:00.001-05:00

http://www.sock-monster.com

comics reading at the fun house

2010-07-14T16:59:00.000-05:00

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

2010-07-12T01:52:00.000-05:00

http://www.sock-monster.com

sock-monster #595

2010-07-07T02:00:00.000-05:00

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

2010-07-05T01:36:00.001-05:00

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

2010-07-03T11:59:00.001-05:00

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

2010-06-22T08:36:00.000-05:00

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

2010-06-16T10:20:00.000-05:00

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

2010-05-18T07:12:00.001-05:00

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!

2010-04-21T10:07:00.000-05:00

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)!

Chicago Zine Fest!

2010-03-06T09:39:00.000-06:00

In one week we'll be smack-dab in the middle of the Chicago Zine Fest, Friday's reading & art show will have happened, and we'll be just about to open the doors to Saturday's exhibiting & workshops. It should be tons of fun, I hope if you can you'll come.

We've had a good response from the press, there should be articles in the Columbia Chronicle and Time Out Chicago later this week. Microcosm did a quick Q&A with us, and the Chicago Underground Library interviewed us on their blog.

In other news, as soon as the zine fest is over, I'll be preparing for the Museum of Comics and Cartooning Art (MoCCA) Arts Fest April 10 & 11 in New York City, and the Stumptown Comics Fest, April 24 & 25 in Portland, OR.

More upcoming events: In May I'm taking a trip to Tokyo to visit my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. August 21st I'll be exhibiting at the Minneapolis Indie Xpo!

The next few months will be a bit of a transition for me, as I'm moving down to the Fun House (home to half of the zine fest organizers) at the beginning of May and five close friends are planning on moving from Chicago. This might be kind of rough, as I've already felt at least one of them pull away from me in expectation of moving to a new life in a new city.

the trash heap (that is my room) has spoken!

2010-01-28T02:00:00.000-06:00

Oh sweet lord. That's a long while since I've posted on the blog. How embarrassing. Whatever, that's the point of blogs right? Just like webcomics, you're supposed to post a bunch, and then leave it to proof until doubled in size...or is that bread? I don't know. What I do know is I've been MIA for a while.

So the Milwaukee Zine Fest was pretty inspiring. So much so that the four of us (Ramsey, Matt, Leslie and I) have been spending the past two months since the fest organizing a Chicago Zine Fest! Let me tell you, it's a lot of work, but it's coming along. Here's the info on a convenient poster:

It's totally free, and open to the public. Registration is open for Saturday's exhibiting.

So yeah, that's what's going on. If you're reading this, I would love for you to be involved some how, whether it's mentioning it to a stranger on a train, or devoting every second of the next month and a half to putting it together, or anywhere in between.

I've also started tweeting on Twitter. I was signing up CZF's Twitter account, and I saw all of my friends on there, and I just couldn't resist. Sigh. At least I'm wasting my time on the internet for something somewhat productive.

Here's the rest of my life in brief:
• I'll be exhibiting at MoCCA and the Stumptown Comics Fest (this one's not confirmed yet, but the plane tickets are nonrefundable, so if I don't get a table, I'll volunteer) in April on opposite sides of the country.
• I got a new computer, which actually runs at a reasonable speed. The last straw was when a website literally said "Your computer is too old to use this page."
• My bedroom is a complete and total disaster, I can not keep it clean, or devote enough time to make it clean in the first place. It's really drafty too, and the low tomorrow is 4°!!
• I haven't been doing drawing any comics lately (not good if I want to have new stuff by April, which I do). I've been working on character designs for my new 5-part minicomic series, Love Letters.
• Quimby's is AWESOME, today we launched a subscription service, so now you can have your favorite periodical put on hold for you for free! I bottom-lined the project, and I'm really excited about it, hopefully folks will dig the idea and start subscribing.
• I've been training at Vocalo, to be a collaborator. I'd direct you to my first audio piece I edited, but I compressed it incorrectly. So you'll just have to wait until Friday evening.
• James P.B. Duffy is working on new songs!! We're working on two songs simultaneously, a song I wrote while I was in Friendship is Terrible, and a song Josh wrote about having a crush on a barista. Pretty awesome, with very different sounds, but some odd similarities.
• My sweetheart has been in Mexico for three weeks, and she's coming back soon (is she in for a weather shock), but I have absolutely no idea what day she's getting back. No clue. Does that make me a bad person?
• It's two o'clock in the morning and I'm going to bed.

cleveland, ho!

2009-11-27T09:48:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow at noon, the doors will open for the very first time at the Genghis Con, an Independent Comics show in Cleveland, Ohio. One of the schmoes behind a table there, hawking his wears will be this guy. I jump on a megabus tonight at 11:59pm (after working at Quimby's until 10pm), ride through the night, and get to Cleveland at 7:30am. I'm gonna make a detour to a much-recommended restuarant, Tommy's, and then up to the Beachland Ballroom, where the event will be held from 12-6pm. After that? WHO KNOWS! I'll have about six hours until I need to be back at the bus stop, to head back to Chicago, getting in around 5:30am. I'll be back at work at five and a half hours later. Whew, I'm exhausted already.

Ahem. At the show I'll have all my standards, The Trugglemat, Spitting Pennies, What is This? both Alpha City Comicbooks, plus, In Anticipation of Hugs. As always I'll also have a bunch of free things, comics, uncle envelope propaganda, stickers, and a brand new button. This thing is probably the most impractical object I've ever affixed a drawing to. Busy Beaver has started to make OVAL buttons, they're 1.75 x 2.75" much to big for the hipster chic of their standard 1" buttons. I'm excited about them.

A note about the drawing above. I drew it on the back of my exhibitor badge at the Windy City Comicon this year, as badges tend to turn around while hanging from your neck (this way people will always know who I am). If you're hoping I'm gonna look like that tomorrow, sorry, I don't have a haircut (in fact I'm desperately overdue for one), my shoes aren't very new anymore, and I make no promises about having brushed my teeth, or wearing pants. You never know, I may remember to wear pants.

milwaukee zine fest/pinstriped bloodbath release party

2009-11-15T13:34:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I trekked past the "Cheddar Curtain" to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the Milwaukee Zine Fest. It was so much fun! I went up there with Matt, Leslie and Ramsey (see previous post for links to their blogs and awesome zines). The fest was at Falcon Bowl, a local nest for the Polish Falcons, which features a bar, bowling alley in the basement and a community ballroom space. The space housed about 30 tables, full of folks from Milwaukee, Chicago, and Madison. They all had really interesting zines, and I think I left with more printed matter than I showed up with.

My travel companions/table mates were lots of fun, and I had a great time with them all day. We ate food from the Riverwest Co-Op and then ate dinner at the Palomino, and had nice conversations. Everyone at the table had a good day selling trading and giving their publications away. I moved 85 different books off my table, 20 of which I got money for, the rest were trades or free comics. I feel bad saying this (as I don't want to talk down any of the comics shows at which I exhibited this year), but it was probably the most enjoyable tabling I've done this year.

As we were leaving, Nicolle, one of the show's organizers asked our table when we would be organizing a Chicago Zine fest. The rest of our trip was peppered with planning for a zine fest here in Chicago. So, I'll keep you informed about those plans.

NEW TOPIC:

This Tuesday I'll be participating in the release party for Pinstriped Bloodbath, the Chicago gangster comics anthology I'm in. It's at good ol' Quimby's Bookstore at 7pm. I'll be there, before hand working and setting up for the show, but my shift ends at 7, then I'll be able to hang out, draw in your copy of the comic, and talk like a gangster, see? Yeah, see? On hand should be the following other creators:

Bernie McGovern

Nate Beaty

Rickey Gonzales

Neil "Neil Jam" Fitzpatrick

Sam Sharpe

Jeremy Tinder

& Editor/Organizer Jeff Zwirek

It should be ton of funs.

freewheel

2009-11-11T00:14:00.001-06:00

    Liz Baillie's comics are awesome! I met her, and started reading her work right when she debuted her tenth and final issue of My Brain Hurts. The story focuses on two middle schoolers growing up in New York City, and really gives a powerfully dramatic glimpse into an age just between childhood and adulthood. The thing My Brain Hurts does so well, is it transports you into the characters' world, and that is true on some degree with all of Liz's work.

    I've also really been enjoying her 2009 Minicomic of the Month Club. Each month she's sent a comic out to subscribers, experimenting with different story telling techniques, and genres. It's been a fabulous companion to my other monthly subscription, Uncle Envelope. Tiny little paper surprises at the beginning of the month, usually a day apart from each other, almost as a cure or reward for the misery of mailing out the Rent and utility checks. I'm really happy I jumped on the MOTMC boat when I had the chance, because Liz is not planning on doing a 2010 subscription.

One of the prime examples of stepping into the Liz Baillie world is her super meta-comic Sing Along Forever, a comic love letter to her favorite band, the Bouncing Souls. The comic is of her and fellow comics artist, Robin Enrico, going to a summer-time outdoor punk music festival to meet the band. The comic's mission is to tell Liz's personal history with the band's music. The comic version of Liz's mission is for that day's events to be the narrative of the comic book, with her reminiscence of the Soul's impact on her life as flashbacks. Your reading a comic book of characters of comic book creators creating a comic book. What? Ugh, that came out far more complicated than it really is, and totally dragged me off course.

    Ahem. I remember reading Sing Along Forever on the bus heading to work one day. We got to my stop, so I had to close the book, and get off the bus. As I pushed the doors open, it felt not as if I was stepping off the bus, but as if I was stepping out of Liz's world, and back into the streets of Chicago. Sing Along Forever is out-of-print, though I think the Bouncing Souls actually have a limited quantity available to sell. Do you see a foreboding pattern emerging here?

   FREEWHEEL! Liz's follow up serial to My Brain Hurts. One part extension of Liz's oeuvre, both visually and thematically ("at risk" youth living without a support network, losing her only true friend, and the struggle to get him back) - one part complete departure! The protagonist, Jamie has bounced around abusive and neglectful foster homes, but has always had her older brother as an anchor of support. One day she finds her brother is gone, on his way to Ithaca (no wonder, it's GORGES! Am I right? Am I right? This bumper sticker knows what I'm talking about). She sets out on her own to find him. Jamie is younger than My Brain Hurts' main character, Kate, and her adventures are more light-hearted, less grounded in reality, as she becomes entwined with a secret village of forest-dwellers.
Visually, Liz is taking so many more risks with page layout, which adds to the whimsical nature of the story.

    Issue three of the minicomic came out in September, each issue has been better than the last. Today I found out there wont be a fourth issue. See? Foreboding pattern solidified. When I read Liz was ceasing production of Freewheel minicomics, my little minicomic heart sank. Then I thought, "we should totally jack the prices up on Freewheel at work!"

    I've failed to mention that Freewheel was originally a short-lived webcomic on Fall of Autumn's website. That got nixed, and restarted as a minicomic series, as My Brain Hurts was wrapping up. Now Liz is reverting BACK to webcomics for Freewheel's publication, and launching http://www.freewheelcomics.com. The comic will update every Tuesday and Thursday, and is starting with the first issue. So check it out! It's totally worth it. A great webcomic died to make way for a great minicomic, which in turn has died for a great webcomic.

It's the ciiiiircle of liiii-eeee-iiiiife!

Elton John, ladies and gentlemen.

another last minute show!

2009-11-09T12:10:00.000-06:00

robot headache

I've been drawing everything except comics right now...AAAARGH! I gotta get sequential, or I'll be that robot, my head exploding.

It's not official, but I think I'm definitely hopping into a last-minute vacancy at my friends Leslie, Ramsey, and Matthew's table at the Milwaukee Zine Fest this upcoming weekend. Here's the basic info:

Milwaukee Zine Fest
Saturday, November 14, 2009
11am-6pm
@ Falcon Bowl

801 E Clarke St

Milwaukee, WI

This'll be my first zine fest, which I'm super excited about. I get the feeling that zine fests are more aligned with my personal values than with standard comics show. I don't mean to knock comics shows, I love those things, but the impression I get is that comics shows are more business, and zine fests are more about the heart-power of self publishing.

genghis con

2009-11-02T12:53:00.001-06:00

Oh, Hi...Oh.

Last minute decisions have been made, megabus tickets have been purchased. I've decided to exhibit at an Indy Comics Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, Saturday, November 28. It'll be really exciting to be exposed to folks who may not trek out to some of the shows I've been to this year. Plus, I've never been to Cleveland (the bus depot doesn't count), so I'm excited to check out the sights.

So if you're near Cleveland, or are looking for an excuse to visit the Forest City come to Genghis Con!

be there or be square twice!

2009-10-05T00:38:00.002-05:00

Monday! The 5th! That's today! Liz Baillie (My Brain Hurts, Freewheel), MK Reed (Cross Country, Americus), and Ken Dahl (Welcome to the Dahl House, Monsters) will be at Quimby's (1854 W North Ave) reading and signing their brand new books. It'll be awesome, you should totally come, shortly before 7pm, so as to enjoy the event in its entirety.

Then, exactly 24 hours later, at the same frickin' spot in the exact same store, Chicago's own Grant Reynolds will be signing his new book Comic Diorama, from Top Shelf Comics. Tuesday! The 6th! 7pm!

These four folks are all awesome individuals, and stellar artists, their books are all really good, and they deserve our support. So if you can, help show them a proper reception here in Chicago and come over to Quimby's.

October is actually FULL of events at Quimby's including a stop on John Porcellino's tour, so check them all out.

ok bye.

sock-monster #592

2009-10-02T01:54:00.001-05:00

http://www.sock-monster.com

sock-monster #591

2009-09-29T10:37:00.001-05:00

http://www.sock-monster.com

spx

2009-09-25T00:54:00.000-05:00

this is what I'm really thinking about

Tomorrow morning I'm jumping in a car with Jeff Zwirek (whose anthology Pinstriped Bloodbath will debut there -I have a piece in there), his brother and Sam Sharpe, and heading down to Bethesda, Maryland for the Small Press Expo!

At one point, SPX's organizers talked about having some of its returning volunteers (including me) write about creators they were excited to see at the show. I started several of them, but nothing ever materialized, so I deleted what I had written. There's really too much awesomeness to write about in advance. I promise to write a recap.

Sock-Monster wont be updating until Tuesday.

I am definitely excited to return to Sticky Fingers Bakery for breakfast cinnamon rolls.

back to life!

2009-09-22T22:02:00.000-05:00

It feels like I've been running on hyper-drive lately, and have missed a few important posts.

Alpha City Comics Issue Two has been published! It's big, blue, and AWESOME! I'll be posting it for sale soon on both Etsy and from the well. I'm really happy with how it turned out, and I hope you enjoy it too. Kevin and I will be launching a website soon, that will publish Alpha City pages twice a week.

Windy City Comicon was this past weekend. It was lots of fun. I got to meet a number of really neat people, both from behind my table and in front of others'.

There are a ton of amazing comics events happening in Chicago in the upcoming couple of months, take a look on the right side of the screen. If you live in Chicago, go to these events. If you don't live in Chicago, move here!

As you can see below this post, I've started drawing Sock-Monster comics again. They'll be coming out fairly regularly now, as I write new print comics. I'll try my hardest to not let print comics obstruct Sock-Monster's schedule.

sock-monster #590

2009-09-22T21:38:00.003-05:00

why is ed mad?

2009-09-17T23:51:00.003-05:00

Why is Ed mad?

Is it because this woman is talking on her phone while ordering an espresso? Is it because she is using poor grammar? Is it because Ed's store, Century Repair and Supplies is not a coffee shop? OR IS IT BECAUSE I MISSED MY DEADLINE TO FINISH DRAWING ALPHA CITY COMICS ISSUE TWO?!

Consider that my official "kicking myself in the butt" moment. I missed the deadline by three days, but I set the deadline with a buffer, to guarantee the comic would be ready for the Windy City Comicon on Saturday (the drawing is done, everything's been printed, all I have to do now is bind the books). Really, anything is better than last year, when I was still drawing the cover of issue one hours before the comicon.

in other news:

(or "you can't have varying degrees of flawlessness")

In anticipation of the Windy City Comicon, the good folks at the Onion's AV Club decided to highlight the "most flawless" and "most troubling" comics from a few of the con's exhibiting publishers. Short Pants Press was honored with a mention. Sarah Becan's Ignatz nominated Ouija Interviews was listed their "most flawless," and my Sock-Monster collection, In Anticipation of Hugs was listed as their "most troubling." It's probably my favorite Sock-Monster review to date. I promise I'll be drawing more "grayish hellscapes" soon.

who...what...huh...how...(too much awesomeness to express)

2009-09-07T10:23:00.000-05:00

Holy Cow and a half! Have I got some news.

First of all, guess who's starting to work here:

on Wednesday. Here's a hint, it's me! I've been in love with Quimby's since I first arrived in Chicago six years ago, and now I get to work behind the scenes. I sure hope I don't suck at my job, because I'm expecting to learn a lot from it, and hoping to put a lot of energy into it as well, so I'd like to keep it for a long while.

Also guess who's playing their first show outside of my living room?

These guys!

Here's the flier:

If you do the math, that's the day after the Windy City Comicon. That's gonna be a CRAZY weekend.

2009-08-31T14:08:00.000-05:00

You tell 'em, Charles "The Ox" Reiser! There's some hard work going on around my drafting table. I had to halt production on Alpha City Comics, Issue Two (ACC #2 for those in the know), in order to meet a deadline for a comic that'll be in an anthology debuting at SPX (more on that LeightR). Not only did I meet the deadline, I BEAT it! So now I'm back on the ACC train, and barrelling through, since yesterday morning, I've completed three pages, and am on schedule to complete two more today! My plan is to print the comic on the 14th, so I pretty much got two weeks to get it done. But I'm gonna try to beat this deadline too. We'll see what happens.

I think that's it...got anything else to say, Ox?

OH SNAP!

ed luce nominated for ignatz award

2009-08-27T12:14:00.000-05:00

I was very excited a couple days ago, looking at the nominees for this year's Ignatz Awards, hoping there'd be a fun surprise, a friend or artist whose work I really like being nominated. Or maybe Achewood wouldn't get nominated for best online comic, and someone else could win for a change. Well, I wasn't disappointed (besides the fact that Achewood in fact was NOT nominated), as in the Promising New Talent category, tucked in the middle was the name Ed Luce.

I personally have never met Ed Luce, but his work was an influence on mine early on, as he and I share in the history of the Untouchable Leader Lampoon. The Leader Lampoon is the comics & humor section of SUNY Fredonia's school newspaper. While a student at Fredonia, I was a regular contributor to the Lampoon, and in my Junior Year became the editor, a title I held until I graduated from Fredonia in 2001. When I first got to Fredonia, the Editor was a Senior, Chris Bishop. He took me under his wing as a cartoonist, and made me fall in love with large areas of black from the tips of sharpies. Following Chris' editorial tenure, Rich Fancher took over for a year, and then I got to take up the mantel.

The Lampoon (which earned its "Untouchable" status my Freshman year, after Chris "dodged" a lawsuit for one of his comics), is one of the only papers from a SUNY school that had an active comics section. Other SUNY papers that would come in to our office often had syndicated strips the papers would buy to print in their pages. Usually they could only afford one strip. The Leader Lampoon sometimes had FOUR whole pages of comics, by tons of students from a variety of majors, and points of view.

As an editor, I actually had a desk -the one right by the door, what were they thinking?!- and access to the filing cabinets full of old issues of the Leader from years past. I used to spend hours, when I should have been drawing mine and Kevin Sciretta's first comics collaboration, SUPERFANTASTIQUE, reading through the old Lampoons from long before I arrived on campus.

That was where I first found the comics of Ed Luce. I definitely remember the name, and that I really liked his stuff, though I can't now be sure what his work was. I do remember a strip I'd like to think was his, a very surreal comic that involved photocopied characters, such as a photograph of a fish, and maybe a distiller? Now I think I'm making things up.

Ed's newer project, Wuvable Oaf comics is in its infancy, issues zero and one have been self published, and it's pretty awesome. It follows the comedic hijinks of members of a gay bear community, the title character truly being a wuvable oaf, who runs a home for wayward cats. The art is fantastic, and the humor is top notch. Ed is certainly deserving of the Ignatz nomination.

I'm really excited a fellow Leader Lampooner has been nominated for an Ignatz. Go Blue Devils!

posting when i should be drawing

2009-08-19T10:47:00.005-05:00

I just wanna post real quick about the upcoming WINDY CITY COMICON, so
when mid September comes around, nobody's all like "WHAT?! Nobody told me about this?!" Consider yourself warned. The Windy City Comicon is Windy City Comicoming!

This show will be super awesome! I'll be there with all my books, so will Short Pants Press (towing behind them, at least Sarah Becan, Grant Reynolds and Bernie McGovern). Jeff Lemire, Jeffrey Brown, Art Baltazar, Matt Kindt, Andy Jewett, and Nate Powell will all be there! Plus a ton of people whose reputation I really should know better, but don't. Check out the guest list. Also, I'll be smuggling Kevin in my back pack, so you can meet the dude who writes Alpha City Comics, as we unveil issue two!

Not to single him out, but Nate Powell needs a little spot lighting. This'll be his first year at Windy City, and he should get a big Chicago welcome. His work is AMAZING! His latest graphic novel, Swallow Me Whole (Top Shelf), won (and rightly so) the 2008 Ignatz for outstanding debut, and the 2009 Eisner for best graphic album. It blows my mind! Well, the book blew my mind when I read it, and it totally blows my mind that it's damn near IMPOSSIBLE to find it in Chicago right now! Luckily, Windy City has hooked you up, because with admission to the show, you have the opportunity to buy the book, as well as meet the dude. And meeting Nate Powell is an opportunity all on its own, because this guy is one of the nicest guys ever. He's super friendly and nice, and has some really funny arm gestures what's not to like?

Windy City was a great success last year, there were tons of folks, and everyone had a good time. The ticket price has increased from $5 to $10, BUT! You're getting 30 more creators to meet than you would have last year, plus, the program is expanding from a half-sheet of paper, to a FULL COLOR COMIC BOOK! Each creator got a page to do whatever they want with. I drew a brand new comic, and you can only get it in that program!

This'll also be the first show that I'll be selling What is This? my children's minicomic. I'll also have buttons and stickers and free comics for you. That's all I gotta say. go to the friggin show.

i just read a great book

2009-08-03T17:49:00.007-05:00

So today, I finished lettering Alpha City Comics Issue Two! It's a time consuming endeavor, especially when you use a brush, and have a different font for every main character. It can also be a little painful on the fingers when you have a grip like mine on a brush. But I'm pretty excited that I can now ink the actual drawings.

Though I'm even more excited that I finished reading THIS:Johnny Hiro by Fred Chao, published by AdHouse Books. It's a trade paperback collection of minis Fred put out, as well as some unreleased work connected to the Johnny Hiro (half asian, all hero) world. This was my first contact with Johnny Hiro, and I've gotta say,

THIS BOOK IS FANTASTIC!

I haven't laughed out loud as much as I did from this book in a while. It's humor was so smart! The comic timing was right on, and it looked like Fred had a lot of fun drawing it. The book really dances upon the line between comic book realism, and the impossible world of comics, as well as that between absurd comedy and heartfelt drama. One story seemed to drag a little, but maybe that's because Johnny wasn't being chased by samurais for once. Otherwise, every page of this book f'ing rocked my socks off. Luckily I was reading it at home. Definietly the most enjoyable read for me in a long while. Go read this book!

that's all.

pencils down

2009-07-29T22:47:00.008-05:00

Tonight I finished primary penciling on Alpha City Comics Issue Two. There are tons of spaces left in the pages that need more detail, but those will be filled in as I ink, which I will start doing tomorrow morning. I'm very excited about this book, the pages are screaming for ink, or maybe it's my brush that's dying to make marks over my pencil lines. Regardless, I'm really excited to get started.

I feel like Kevin and I are learning to make comics together. He and I discussed changes to the scripts as he wrote them, and I sought responses from him over character and style designs. One day I drew a panel with perspective that I'm pretty proud of:Then I drew a whole page that just made my brain hurt:The perspective is off, the and the characters are small and, I think, awkward in their anatomy. Kevin's script calls for a second page of panels from the same point of view, so I decided to nip it in the bud. I caught Kevin on Gmail, and asked him for help. After a brief conversation, I went back to the drawing board (literally), and produced this:

So that's team work for ya.

i have books

2009-07-23T09:36:00.005-05:00

I wasn't sure how to follow up my previous post, as it was so serious. It seemed like anything I could possibly write would seem shallow compared to it.

SO I'VE DECIDED TO SHAMELESSLY PROMOTE MY WARES!

I started an etsy account, it's a more public means of selling my books, over my website's store. I have my four comic books for sale, The Trugglemat, Spitting Pennies, What is This? and Alpha City Comics Issue One.

I've also changed how I am producing my books, i used to sew the interior pages together, and then use rice paste to glue the covers to the pages. Every time I would glue my books, I would get nervous, thinking my recipe was somehow wrong, and the books would fall apart. They never seemed to fall apart, so I kept on making my books that way. Then finally, at MoCCA this year, I put a BUNCH of copies of What is This? together, to give away, and show off. Sure enough, some of the covers started to fall off, and I was super embarrassed handing them out to people. One woman ran up to me at one point waving the book, telling me how much she liked it and as she opened the book...crack! I could hear the brittle dried glue breaking.

While I was in New York, I decided to stop using glue on my books. And as if the Universe wanted to make sure I meant what I said, it drove the point home: My favorite pastime on the way back from a convention is to sit on the Amtrak train, and read read read all the comics I got at the show. So, I sat down in my seat at Penn Station, and opened up my first read of my trip, Kazimir Strzepek's The Mourning Star, Vol. 1 (which, by the way, is AWESOME). As I read the book, the glue gave, and chunks of the book dropped one by one into my lap. I pulled out my needle and thread, and went to work sewing it back together, which took me until Albany.

So short story long, I'm sewing all of my books together now, and I think they look and feel better than ever. Alpha City Comics now has a shiny foil tape spine. And Spitting Pennies will eventually get a black tape spine, if I can find some good black tape. I'm also making a more conscious decision about what color thread I'm using for each book. I'm far more satisfied with the finished product.

in loving memory of oscar patriarco

2009-07-17T10:45:00.004-05:00

My friend Oscar died last night. I've known a lot of cats, I mean a LOT, and Oscar was one of the best (perhaps second only to his adopted brother, Skitch). He was wicked smart, really patient with younger or more bossy cats, and quite a handsome gent. He also had to overcome a lot of obstacles in his life. He was declawed long before I knew him (Dear everyone on the face of the earth, DO NOT DECLAW CATS!), which led to litter box issues. It's believed he was abused in an earlier home, sometimes when he wasn't paying attention, the sudden sight of me with a broom would scare him. He also had issues with peeing on furniture (sofas and beds). Taking all of that into account, he was still one of the best cats I've ever known, and I loved him a whole lot. He was lucky to have some really caring human friends for the better part of his life, though, particularly Leah and Laura, who were very loving and patient with him, and allowed him to grow out of a more difficult past.
Oscar, from one skinny red head to another, you were awesome, and will be missed.

KAPOW!

2009-07-15T20:11:00.006-05:00

I spent the day yesterday drawing at my friend Ryan's temporary digs. I say temporary, because he got into town late June, and he's leaving Chicago for New York City tonight. Bon voyage, sir! Drawing with Ryan a couple times while he was in town made me remember how much I love being social while drawing. In college, I constantly had folks I could bounce off ideas with, or at least pass the hours of creating with. Alone in my room, I get antsy quickly, which often makes it difficult to get anything done. Alpha City #2's original release was supposed to be just after Stumptown in APRIL, the delay has primarily been my inability to sit still -or say no to other projects.

Speaking of other projects! I'm planning on entering Oni Press' Talent Search competition (by mail), and I've started formulating a script full of safe cracking and corsages for an anthology Jeff Zwirek is putting together for SPX.

drawing again!

2009-07-07T14:30:00.008-05:00

Woo hoo! I'm drawing a fair amount of stuff these days. Above are some panels from a comic I drew for the Windy City Comicon, the program for which will be a full color comic book, with each guest getting a page to show off their skillz. When you come to the show (you are coming to the show, it was awesome last year), you will get to read the whole thing.

This weekend, I also drew the first installment of Bot Bakery Comics (see above sketch). Over two years ago, I heard about this crazy new vegan, gluten-free food company starting up, that was going to sell baked goods, packaged with comics about robots that made vegan baked goods. WHAT?! Who crawled into my brain and mapped out my dream job for me? I scammed my way into the start up before they even started producing food with promises of hard work and a competent drawing hand. Heh heh heh, SUCKERS! I'm love my job, and soon you'll be able to walk into select Chicago stores and buy delicious, organic, vegan, gluten-free baked goods with a cute comic by me hiding inside (the packaging, not the baked good).

And finally (both in this post, and for the anticipation felt by me and Kevin Sciretta for too long), I'm penciling issue two of Alpha City Comics! I'm having a lot of fun, and I hope you will too.

minimal site updates

2009-07-05T09:07:00.004-05:00

I've updated the front ages of From the Well, and Sock-Monster, to let folks know I have a blog. Hopefully, this will allow me to make announcements easier, keep people's interest in my work. I'll also be posting Sock-Monster comics here, so everyone's who's been bugging me about an RSS feed ('cause, you know, I'm a little inconsistent with my publishing) can finally get one, though they'll have to also receive other news updates. Hope folks enjoy this stuff.

summer reading recap

2009-07-03T09:07:00.005-05:00

Last night was the zine reading/fair at the Fun House, and it was AWESOME! All the readings were super super sweet, and I ended up going last, which made me really nervous. I enlarged copies of pages from What is This? and read it out loud with sound effects, and a funny voice for Lucy, the alien. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. Then I traded for a bunch of zines, and a couple of folks insisted on giving me money for my comics, so I made back about half of the printing costs, which was an added bonus I wasn't planning for.

I'll add it to my "I Just Wanna Draw Comics Fund" savings account I'm gonna try to reopen today.

I've got the day off from work, so I'm running some errands, and then heading down to Hyde Park to have a drawing date with Ryan Alexander-Tanner. I'm drawing my page for the Windy City Comicon program, which is a full-sized comic book, with each creator getting a page. I'm also working on Alpha City Comics #2, I'm 10% done with penciling the book.

summer reading and zine fair

2009-06-27T10:13:00.001-05:00

On Thursday I'll be participating in a reading of zines and comics at my friend Leslie's place. I've never read a comic out loud, so it should be an interesting experience. I tried looking into the works of the other readers, so as to provide links, but all I could find were myspace pages. Leslie is reading, and she's pretty cool. So that's reason enough to show up to her event.

There'll also be a concurrent vegan baked good swap going on! How could you NOT go?!

1743 Mozart Thursday, July 2, 2009 7pm. Be there!