back to life!

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.

why is ed mad?

 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)

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.

posting when i should be drawing

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.

drawing again!

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.

summer reading recap

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.