Reviews n' Such

I'm a little behind in posting reviews and whatnot, so here goes...

I don't think I've ever actively flagged someone down at a comic con to demand they check out my comics, but the two dudes at SPX wearing shirts that screamed "VEGAN" and "TOFU" were just too much to pass up. Turns out one of 'em (Richard De Angelis) writes a blog called Comic Book Justice, and he ended up buying a copy of Old Man Winter (which contains several animal welfare based stories). He wrote a bit about it here.

Carrie Try Harder's (those hyphenated last names just get weirder and weirder) review of Losers Weepers #1 and #2 on Inkstuds can be read here.

Nick Rennis & Eric Murphy wrote a short review of Old Man Winter on the Indie Street Radio blog. Just click right here to read it.

Justin Giampaoli airs some grievances about both issues of Supertalk on Poopsheet Foundation, but ultimately gives them a passing grade. Read the review of issue #1 here, and #2 here.

Snoop shirt coming soon!

I've just finished the design for the upcoming Snoop t-shirts. I'd like to print them on ringer tees for a nice vintage feel, so if anyone knows of an inexpensive place to get quality bulk t-shirts please holler at me. I'm hoping to have them done in time for the upcoming King Con comic fest in Brooklyn (Nov. 6 & 7).

Reviews on Indie Street Radio

Nick Rennis & Eric Murphy of Indie Street Radio (a podcast) gave short reviews of both Old Man Winter & OST (click here to read) and Tales of Good Ol' Snoop Doggy Dogg (click here to read).

Speaking of, I am down to the last 8 copies of Tales of Good Ol' Snoop. I'm going to reprint a 2nd edition of 250 copies, though, so no worries. Since that particular mini seems to cause the most stir, I'm thinking of redrawing the cover image and silk-screening it onto t-shirts, totes, thongs, etc.

Reviews out the Wazoos

A few reviews have trickled in during the last week (sorry for the misleading use of "wazoos" in the posting title there):

Martin Steenton of Avoid The Future practically drools on the first two issues of the Supertalk anthology. I mean that in the best possible way! Read it here.

Richard Krauss reviews "Tales of Good Ol' Snoop Doggy Dogg" on Midnight Fiction. Actually, it's more of a summary, but with some kind words thrown in the mix. Read it here.

Xavier Xerexes (or, rather, the man who goes by that moniker) stopped by Sophia and my table at SPX to pick up some new comics. He ended up filming an impromptu segment of us (and three other artists) attempting to describe our latest comics. It's posted on Comixtalk (and The Comics List). Watching this I'm reminded of how weird I look when I speak. For some reason I talk from the side of my mouth (maybe it has something to do with my one deaf ear?). People rarely point this eccentricity out to me, so I forget that I do it. My friend Sanjay's mom used to implore me to "talk straight...no Pop-eye-eye-eye". Anyhow, you can watch the video here if you're so inclined.

SPX 2010

The somewhat bitter-sweet SPX was last weekend, and having a little distance from it now I think it went pretty damn well!

I say "bitter-sweet" because although I love almost every aspect of the Small Press Expo, I felt like people weren't buying many of our comics. Apparently it was an optical illusion, 'cause when I went home and tallied up the sales they were pretty much in line with previous cons. That is to say, we made back what we paid for the table, but lost money once you figure in gas, tolls, parking and food.

Luckily, comics aren't about money. If they were, these conventions would look like the Texas hill-country. I can't stress enough how nice it is to be in a room full of like-minded people. I spend the majority of my (working) time isolated, hunched over a drawing table. When I emerge from my dingy cavern squinting and shielding my pale face from the sun, I have to explain to people that, no, I don't draw comic strips like Garfield or Family Circus. Mine are generally populated by degenerates and addicts (who may or may not hate Mondays). There's no need to explain at SPX. Everyone gets it.

I got to catch up with a lot of old friends. I shared a table with Sophia Wiedeman again. Frienemy Ulises Farinas was to my left and L. Nichols was directly behind me. A surprising number of folks from my past (mostly Richmond era) stopped by the actual convention: A.Thomas Crawley, 'Becca & Jon, Webb and Vinnie Panizo. Even Lulu stopped by to help sell comics.

We stayed with our good buddy Sara Markese, and she showered the whole family with presents (I got a sweet pigeon shirt and a "#1 Pop Pop" hat). I had dinner with my old roommate Patrick Cavanagh and his new lady-friend Crystal, good buddy from Austin Paul Petersan & his lady-friend Kamber (chef extraordinaire at Sticky Fingers vegan bakery) and another VCU alumni Anna West.

All in all, it was a great success. My new comic (available here) didn't sell as well as I'd hoped, but you can't win 'em all.

SPX & New Comic!!

Oh man, it's been a while since I've written anything here. But that's for good reason. I've been working sun up to sun down to finish a new mini comic in time for SPX this weekend. I just now handed it over to the printer, so hopefully I'll be able to get them assembled, stapled and trimmed in time before we leave for Maryland tomorrow.

I'll be sharing a table (B13 - see map) with Sophia Wiedeman again. Unfortunately she hasn't had time to complete the next chapter of her "Lettuce Girl" story, which I was really looking forward to reading. That said, if you don't have the first chapter (or her other comics), c'mon by and pick it up!

My new one is sort of, but not really, a sequel to the "Tales of Good Ol' Snoop Doggy Dogg" mini. It is another collection of dreams (one of which features Snoop...again!), but this time there all sorts of celebrities (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dick Cheney, Roseanne Barr, Henry Rollins and Snoop) and the stories are longer and more developed. It's 20 pages and only a piddling four dollars. Oh, and it's called "It's Dream Time, Snoop Doggy Dogg". I know he goes by the abbridged "Snoop Dogg" these days, but "Snoop Doggy Dogg" sounds better in this context, I think.

Major thanks are due to Karen. The last few days she's done the lion's share of watching Lulu, and I suppose she'll do a little more of that while I'm selling at SPX. We're staying with our old pal Dr. Sara Markese, so Karen gets to hang out with her BFF while I'm at the convention.

Review of Losers Weepers #1 on Comics Should Be Good!

Brian Cronin of Comics Should Be Good! gave a fantastic review to the first issue of Losers Weepers. To summarize, he says that the comic works as a story even if you remove the 'gimmick' of it being based on found letters & journals. I went into the project knowing that it could easily turn out poorly if the story linking these various unrelated writings wasn't strong enough to stand on its own, so it's rewarding to hear that I was successful in pulling it off (at least according to a handful of reviewers!). I hope he enjoys issue #2 and the forthcoming issues as well.

Speaking of, I'm nearing completion of another dream comic (this one featuring Dick Cheney). I don't know if I'll be able to finish the other two comics to complete the collection in time for SPX (September 11th & 12th), but I'm trying my damndest. So far, I've completed the dreams featuring Snoop Dogg and Arnold Schwarzenegger. That leaves Roseanne Barr and Henry Rollins. I may not have time to complete both, so please weigh in on which you'd rather see, and I'll start on that first.