Brooklyn Comics & Graphics Festival: A smashing success

This photo pretty much sums it up.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our table, and extra kudos to those who shelled out a few bucks to keep us in beans & rice. Thanks to my tablemate Victor Kerlow who was entertaining as always and didn't smell too bad this time. I think he had fun, but I'm sure he's anxious to get back to hanging out with his undercover cop friends.

I refrained from spending too much money (my kid can't eat comics, though lord knows I've tried), but I did buy a few books. I've been waiting to buy Tom Neely's "The Wolf" directly from him 'cause he always draws something amazing inside, but I was too busy chatting to remember to ask him to draw something in it! I also picked up Mike Dawson's "Troop 142". He & Alex Robinson entertain me through many an hour of inking with their podcast (The Ink Panthers Show), so I wanted to support him by buying his new book. Not to mention that I loved "Freddie & Me" (another of his books).

Besides that, I picked up a few minis here and there including Domitille Collardey's "What Had Happened Was II" and John Porcellino's newest "King Cat".

I am ALWAYS up for trading comics, but not too many people asked to this time. Maybe it's the recession's fault? A few people did, though. Sam Henderson gave me his "Free Ice Cream and Other Cartoons You Could Have Drawn", good ol' Josh Burggraf gave "Kid Space Heater", Maggie Prendergast gave "Over And (Over)" and "Old Men" (hope that wasn't a dig), Max Clotfelter gave "Andros #5", Hazel Newlevant gave "168 Hour Week" and "Evil Bus Driver" and of course Victor Kerlow gave me his newest "Something Big" which almost didn't get printed 'cause the printer "doesn't print pornography".

There were a bunch of folks I didn't get to talk to since I'm strangely averse to leaving my table (to the point where I usually get faint with hunger before running out to get food), but all in all a good time.

Thinger Dingers!

That fresh toner smell is in the air again here at Birdcage Bottom Books. We've learned enough from current global trends (Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, etc.) to know that we must offer SOMETHING to satiate the dissatisfied mob while they anxiously await our upcoming anthology "Tempeh & T-Bones: A Food Fight" due out in April 2012.

So, here we have "Thinger Dingers", a collection of comics by J.T. Yost (that's me) originally included in a variety of anthologies. Think of it as "Old Man Winter 2" but funny instead of depressing. Lord knows we've got enough to be depressed about these days.

At a trifling three dollars for 24 densely packed pages, it should definitely occupy you through at least one bowel movement. Well worth it, I should think.

Thinger Dingers will be officially released at the upcoming Brooklyn Comics & Graphics Festival on December 3rd. It's available for pre-order on our website right now!

Please help!

Althought I don't know Tom Hart personally, we've been corresponding as of the last few days regarding a comic anthology I'm putting together. Through his work and the few emails we've exchanged, I've gleaned that he's as warm and personable as he is talented. 


Cartoonists Tom Hart (Hutch Owen) and Leela Corman (Queen’s Day) have experienced a terrible, devastating loss with the unexpected death of their young daughter, Rosalie Lightning. Vineylandcreator Lauren Weinstein has set up a memorial fund via PayPal to help Hart and Corman in their time of need. Please consider giving if you have the time and financial ability to do so. Weinstein also says that anyone seeking information on where to send condolences should email rosalielightningmemorial@gmail.com.


As the father of a girl almost the same age as Rosalie, I can only imagine what Tom and Leela are going through right now. Let's all give what we can so that they have one less thing to worry about. 

Excuses.

I have been cyber-reclusive lately for a reason: namely, our external hard-drive kicked the bucket followed closely by our entire computer. We weren't able to retrieve the data from either, so I've been scrambling to reassemble invoices, contacts, etc. from more analogue sources.

In addition, I'm working on two illustration/comic projects that I can't let out of the bag just yet. One of them is for an organization that helps sick children, and it is alternately uplifting and crushingly depressing.

Anyhow, just wanted to let you know that I am alive, should you care.

Very good news & very bad news

Do you want the good news or the bad news first? I'll go with the good first since the bad is more important and requires some action from YOU...

The good news is that we (Birdcage Bottom Books) got a half-table at the Brooklyn Comics & Graphics Festival! It's a one day comics fest curated by Gabriel Fowler of Desert Island ComicsPicturebox (one of my all-time favorite comic shops), Dan Nadel of & Bill Kartalopolous. I've gone the two previous years as a customer, and it's been my favorite of the east coast conventions (never been to any on the west coast). They use the money that they charge for tables to fly in really great guests that don't often make it over to our side of the country (last year Lynda Barry, Renee French & Jordan Crane were there, among others). Then there's a slew of great local artists and really good panels.

Now, the bad news.
Dylan Williams, the man behind Sparkplug Comics has been diagnosed with cancer. Apparently this is his second time dealing with it. His medical bills are going to undoubtedly be substantial since the U.S. can't get it together and fix our crummy health insurance system. I can tell you from first hand experience that small press comic publishers do not make much (any?) money, so let's all do what we can and order comics from him.  Okay?

Paul Hoppe & Man-Belly Touching (no relation)

Little Lulu and I just got back from seeing Rabid Rabbit compadre Paul Hoppe read his new children's book ('The Woods') at Book Court in our old neighborhood. The reading fell right during Lulu's usual nap time, so I was impressed that she neither nodded off nor wailed during the event. She did scream 'MORE!!' a few times because I'd bought her a bagel with tofu-veggie spread that she enjoys smearing across her face in what I'm guessing is an anti-Al Jolsen performance piece. Anyhow, the book is great, so pick one up at a bookstore or buy it online or send your money to Paul by carrier pigeon.

In absolutely unrelated news, my longtime fellow employee/friend at Utrecht, Jen, threw a surprise party for her manfriend/my not-as-longtime fellow employee/friend Billy. She asked a bunch of us to paint something for him on a 5x5 wooden panel. I only had a couple of hours to paint mine, but I think it came out pretty well regardless. I'll leave it to you to deduce the meaning. I was impressed by the other panels. Who would've guessed that a bunch of artists would be working at an art supply store?!

I also got to break in my new cupcake carrier. I bought it in anticipation of bringing vegan cupcakes to Lulu's friend's birthday parties and such (let's just hope she has friends). It's basically a muffin pan with another tier that is covered with a snap on plastic cover with a handle. I got a few shout outs on the bus up to Harlem.

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...