Reviews on Roctober Magazine blog

So, before I start posting the afore-promised interesting stuff, here are a slew of reviews by Jacob Austen on the always excellent Roctober Magazine blog:

Read the review of Old Man Winter and the first two issues of Losers Weepers here.

Read the review of It's Dream Time, Snoop Doggy Dogg! here.

Read the review of Snakepit 2009 here.

Read the review of Supertalk #1 here.

Snakepit 2009 review on Comixtreme

Here's a not-too-bad review of Snakepit 2009 by Andrea Speed on the Comixtreme blog. Actually, saying he "comes from the Jeffrey Brown school" elevates it to a great review in my book!

Snakepit 2009 review & interview on The Daily Cross Hatch

Here's a comprehensive look at the new Snakepit 2009 book in the form of both a review and an interview with America's favorite weed smoker (besides Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg or Peter Tosh). Thanks to Brian Heater for making it happen!

Read the review here.

Read the interview here.

P.S. That fantastic nib-headed guy is The Daily Cross Hatch's logo drawn by Kevin Cannon. If you haven't read his "Far Arden" book yet there's something wrong with you.

MoCCA 2010

This was my second year selling at MoCCA (and 9th year attending). Seems like they worked out a lot of the kinks from last year. For the record, I didn't mind the heat last year, but since most everyone else did, it was a wise move to change the fest to April. My biggest complaint this year was the astronomical cost of the tables. Fortunately, it seems that the organizers took this into consideration since next year's tables cost nearly $50 less. I just hope that doesn't translate into higher ticket costs for attendees.

I didn't get to attend any of the panels, but since Brian Heater was at the helm I'm sure they were fantastic. I get paranoid about leaving my table, because I feel like that's when someone I want to see will stop by. Luckily, I was there when one of my favorite babies came by for a visit. Lulu is a much more savvy business person than I am, and her visit lead to increased sales until she needed to nurse. I guess comic geeks can't handle a little discreet bosom bearing.

As you may know, Birdcage Bottom Books put out this year's collection of Ben Snakepit's diary comic. Since Ben doesn't put his name on the front of the books, this led to many misidentifications. I guess it's the fact that we both have chin-strap beards, because we aren't really similar in any other way, physically. One kid insisted that I sign a copy of Snakepit even though I repeatedly insisted that I wasn't Ben.

Anyhow, it was a lot of fun hanging out with Victor, the Supertalk crew and the Rabid Rabbit crew. As always, I met lots of talented and friendly folks and left with a healthy stack of new comics.

Snakepit 2009 available for pre-order!

You can now order "Snakepit 2009" at Birdcage Bottom Books. Orders should ship a few days after the actual release date (I'll be working the table at MoCCA).

It will be officially released at this years MoCCA comic fest in NYC on April 10th & 11th, so come on by and pick one up (along with other titles). As an added incentive, you will get a free (out-of-print) quarterly collection of Snakepit from days gone by with any purchase!

Snakepit 2009 collects the ninth year of aging punk rocker Ben Snakepit's comic diary. Put it by your toilet, and you may never leave.

It's a 96 page trade paperback with color cover, b&w interior.

Lulu Speaks Hebrew

I'm closing in on the last few pages of Losers Weepers #2 (although I still have to ink and assemble it all before April 10th!), and Snakepit 2009 has been sent to the printer.

Meanwhile, please enjoy this video of Lulu caught speaking Hebrew (or may be Yiddish...I don't know how to speak either one).

Thailand comic journal

Loyal turncoats,

Sorry I have had radio silence for a while. I'm nearing the end of penciling the new chapter of "Losers Weepers", and I'm also working on a new three page comic for the upcoming "Supertalk 2" anthology. Plus, I'm readying the files for the new "Snakepit" book. All three will be available on April 10th at MoCCA here in NYC (or you can order them from www.birdcagebottombooks.com).

In the meantime, here's a couple of diary comics I drew in cars and planes on our honeymoon trip to Thailand. I kept a non-comic journal as well, and I've scanned it all in to send to a friend who is visiting Thailand soon. If any of you share my enthusiasm for monkeys, veganism and elephants and are planning a trip to Thailand, holler at me and I'll send you the journal so you'll have some good info (including how to order vegan meals in Thai!).

Review in Inkstuds

Thanks to Carrie Try Harder for her review of "Old Man Winter & OST" on the Inkstuds blog.

In between diaper changes, I'm keeping myself busy with the second chapter of "Losers Weepers" (just over half done with tight page sketches) and preparing "Snakepit 2009" for print.

On Monday, we went to the funeral service for David Levine, an old friend of Karen's family and an accomplished caricaturist and painter. You will undoubtedly recognize his work from regular publication in The New Yorker, Newsweek, Esquire, Playboy, The New York Review of Books, Rolling Stone, etc., etc. I never met him personally, but I've always admired his work. The service was in our neighborhood because he was born in Brooklyn and lived in Brooklyn Heights. From the many speeches given, I gather that he was a principled and loving man with a great affection for Brooklyn and the underappreciated blue collar worker. He will be missed!

Snakepit!

In an effort to not be so damn egomaniacal, Birdcage Bottom Books will be publishing the next comic diary collection (2009) of Ben Snakepit! We will have it out by MoCCA in April, if not sooner. Here's a sneak-peek of the cover art...

If you're not familiar with his work, go pick up some of his past books available through Microcosm and maybe Young American Comics if they have any left. I guarantee you will be addicted, and that you will spend too much time on the toilet (where it is meant to be read).

I've known Ben since we went to college in Richmond together in 1992, and I've always enjoyed his comics and sense of humor. We also both lived in Austin for a brief period. Now that I don't see him on a regular basis, it's nice to be able to keep tabs on him via his diary comic.

Taking care of our new baby doesn't leave me too much time for drawing my own comics (although I do squeeze it in when I can), so I thought I'd put the profits from my first book to good use and publish someone else's work for a change!