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Lots of hand-carved, hand-painted block prints of dogs, livestock & more plus silk-screened SNOOP shirts!

The Bitch is Back!

While living in the real world I occasionally neglect this sad little virtual world. Interrupting my pleasant dreams of sharing vegan milkshakes with Calvin Broadus, Jr. (you probably know him as "Snoop Dogg", but we've been dream-bros for almost a decade now, so he insists I call him by his given name), a nagging snuffling series of zeroes and ones overtakes my subconscious and hounds me relentlessly until I passively aggressively type a new entry into this here blog.

So, what's been keeping me so busy that I can't even be bothered to write or call? I'm glad you asked!

Here, I'll present it as a series of bullet points for maximum efficiency:

• We moved! Yes, after only two years in Brooklyn, we've returned to Manhattan. We could no longer resist the siren call of my in-laws' offer of the bottom floor of their brownstone on the Upper West Side. My wife and I now both share a studio that is NOT part of our living room/kitchen, which is a first. The UWS is quite a different scene than our previous apartments in the Lower East Side or Brooklyn. You can't find a (vegan) meal for under $10 and the mean age is 65, but there are lots of parks and museums for our little one. The apartment wasn't finished being renovated for the first six weeks after we moved in, but now we're almost done unpacking and getting back to a semblance of normal life. 
• I finished a new ten page comic for Nicole Georges (Invincible Summer). It's for an anthology she's putting out about bad roommates. I've been blessed with mostly amazing roommates, but there have been a few stinkers. This comic explores four of the worst offenders. 
• Chainsaw Comics accepted my five page comic for an anthology with the theme of "fear". I originally drew this one for the Dapper Chap anthology (with a "horror" theme), but the founder volunteered at a primate sanctuary in South America (can't fault him that!) and I don't think it will ever come out.
• My publishing company, Birdcage Bottom Books, was working on a project with a couple of fairly high-profile comic artists, but it seems to have fallen through. Now that my tears have dried, I'm thinking of putting together a split anthology. Half would be comics by vegan artists and half would be by carnivores or whatever the more accurate term for non-vegetarians might be (since true carnivores eat meat almost exclusively)...omnivores? I'm not sure if I want to impose a stricter theme beyond that of diet. I'm still in the brainstorming stage. Anyone out there interested in submitting or have any bright ideas?
• I'm writing the final chapter of my Losers Weepers comic. I took a break after issue #3 to work on some shorter comics and in anticipation of moving to our new apartment.

Here's the first page of the bad roommate comic to pique your interest...

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.

Reviews & News

A couple more reviews have trickled in. Joe Babinsack from Pop Damage wrote a short review of Tales of Good Ol' Snoop Doggy Dogg here, and Rob Clough wrote one for Losers Weepers #2 on The Comics Journal blog.

I'm hard at work on a new collection of dream comics. I've finished inking one featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and I've started in on another one with Snoop Dogg. I've attached photographic proof for you naysayers.

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.

Cathy always knows just how I feel

It's been a hectic last few weeks.

I apologize for the fact that you have to look at Cathy and her diet soda over there, but most everything I'm working on is either in the sketch stage or is mind-numbingly boring self promotional type stuff.

"Old Man Winter & Other Sordid Tales" is currently being printed (I should get the books next week), so I'm compiling a list of magazines, blogs, newspapers, etc. to receive review copies. If you have any suggestions, pass 'em on. I've also been designing business cards & press releases to include in the press packets.

I don't know if any of you watched "Death on a Factory Farm", the documentary I suggested last week, but it was fantastic (in a disturbing kind of way). I wasn't previously aware that it was another film by Sarah Teale who was responsible for the equally disturbing "Dealing Dogs" doc. After watching "Dealing Dogs" I'd tried to get in touch with the undercover investigator. I was hoping to do a comic based on whatever information I could get from an interview with him.

I wasn't succesful finding him then, but the day after I watched this new film (which uses the same undercover investigator) my friend that works at the Humane Society in D.C. called me to see if I was still interested in contacting him. My buddy's buddy is buddies with the cruelty investigator, so he's going to pass my contact info. on to him. I hope he calls!

Interestingly, it does tie into one of my current projects. I've mentioned that I'm doing a comic adaptation of Gail Eisnitz's "Slaughterhouse". She is a chief cruelty investigator for the Humane Farming Association (HFA). HFA funded and organized the investigation documented in "Death on a Factory Farm". The circle is complete.

The deadline for the "Ducks On The Pond" book is coming up (March 31), so I'm trying to whip these contributors into shape. So far only Jeffrey Brown and myself have finished a piece, but I'm hoping all of the others who have promised something will deliver.

I'm almost finished sketching 3 new two-page comics about dreams I've had involving Snoop Doggy Dogg (I'm told he just goes by "Snoop Dogg" these days). I've also finished the cover for the Snoop comic, but I'm experimenting with hand-carved rubber stamp prints on it, so I'll post it later when I find one I like.

Holy Hip-Hop!

In honor of Snoop Doggy Dogg's birthday today, I present a stunning portrait painted by Alex Melamid now showing at The Forum Gallery in L.A. This current show features paintings of various hip-hop stars (50 Cent, Kanye West, Russell Simmons, Lil Jon, Reverend Run, etc.) done in the old masters style.

I can't wait until the show comes to New York (January, I think).

In order to somehow incorporate a shameless plug for myself into this thread, I'm also posting a photo of one of my traditional pet portraits of...Pony Doggy Dogg!

Editors Note: I just realized that Snoop's birthday is actually tomorrow...sorry, Snoop!