Merry Christmas

The Little Guy that Lives in My Armpit

Since I'm out of a job, I thought it might be fun to try and submit a design to Threadless. At this point I have put it up for critique here and it's not going too well so far. I'll still submit it for the official vote, so I'll keep you all posted.

In a completely unrelated note, I would like to thank all of my female friends that do not wear velour track suits.

Collateral Damage

I recently found out that, due to the Hollywood writer's strike, I'm going to be laid off from my day job as a Storyboard Revision Artist on American Dad on November 30th. God knows how long it will all last. When this all began, I found myself siding with the writers, but had to admit that there was a bad taste in my mouth knowing that I could be out of work for guys who are making a lot more money than I am. However, as this proceeded and I've learned more about the situation, it's become easier to support them even though I'm looking at some lean, lean times ahead of me. One reason is because I see this as a creator rights issue. I think most people would agree that the writers of these shows are entitled to get a bigger percentage than the .36% they currently get for video and DVD sales and if I'm not mistaken, nothing for internet downloads. That's about 4 cents for a DVD. They're asking for 8 cents. One example I've read is that the guys who manufacture the box the DVD comes in gets more than the writers of the show it's packaging. It's criminal.

The other issue that bugs the hell out of me is knowing just how much C.E.O's make at these corporations. According to this at the Los Angeles Times, Viacom paid their old chief executive Tom Freston a 60 million dollar severance package. That's how much he got when he was fired. That is more than what the entire industry paid in writer's residuals. That's just obscene and I can't imagine Viacom shareholders being pleased that 60 million dollars went to pay Freston, when a fraction of that could have gone to the writers and avoided a costly strike. Those are some odd priorities for business.

For more info on what this is all about, here is another good L.A. Times article. The writers have my support for as long as this lasts, but until the end comes, maybe someone out there can pass a little illustration work my way.

Podcasts

Podcasts have been a godsend in keeping me in my chair while drawing all day. However, I find that I often listen to my regular shows faster than they are produced. I'm wondering if folks out there would like to mention some of their favorites in the comments section so I can discover some new shows. Here is a list of what I listen to (all can be found on Itunes). Maybe you will find something new...

Indie Spinner Rack All about independent comics. The hosts are goofy. At least one of them is.

InkStuds Also about independent comics, but with a different vibe.

NPR's Fresh Air Terry Gross interviews subjects as diverse as Sarah Silverman, Alan Greenspan, and Alice Sebold.

KCRW's Left, Right and Center Political punditry that claims to not scream, but lefty Bob Sheer occasionally gets close. Not that I blame him.

The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe Skeptics take on everything from faith healers, to free energy, to acupuncture.

KPCC's Film Week Good film criticism with a rotating batch of critics. My favorite is Henry Sheehan.

Bill Moyers Journal This never fails to depress and outrage me. Moyers covers stories that I wish others in the press would cover. We live in a corrupt world.

Astronomy Cast I just started listening to this one. Today, I learned all about various theories of dark energy. Rad!

Stumptown

I’m always amazed that people are able to blog about a convention the day after it happened. The day following a convention, I am usually unpacking, washing clothes and generally exhausted. This year was even worse since Georgene and I drove from Portland to Los Angeles in one day and I went back to work the following day. It seemed like I was tired for a week and a half. With most of the indy comics world focused on SPX last weekend, I will finally get a small report out.

Our first day was spent looking at houses and neighborhoods in Portland (we’re considering moving there). While we were driving around we stopped by the amazing Powell’s bookstore where I picked up a copy of Bob Gill’s The Millionaires, from 1959. The Millionaires is a black and white picture book that was used by a university instructor of mine to teach us good design in laying out a book. We followed our visit to Powell’s with a trip to Floating World to check out the Al Columbia art show. The show was great and I picked up a Columbia poster as well as The Complete Universe of Dupuy / Berberian. This is a fantastic book filled with illustrations and drawings by two of my favorite cartoonists in the world. Their luscious, confident line work actually shares a little in common with Bob Gill’s.



The next two days were spent at the Stumptown show, which was much, much better than last year's. In 2006 I got the impression that the dealers were just selling comics to each other, with few real attendees making it to the convention center. This year was very different. The show was held in a much cozier location with more people attending. Something I found impressive with Portland is the strong DIY vibe there. I sold a lot of stuff wholesale to people that owned quirky stores / galleries. One of those stores, Tender Loving Empire, is also a music label and publishes mini comics (check out Pinwheel). It’s good to see and I wonder if it is a little easier there since residents are pretty successful at keeping large chain stores out of the city, allowing independent businesses to survive and thrive.

While making the rounds on the floor, I came across Papercutter. This anthology features 3 artists per issue and is only $3. In terms of format, it’s much closer to Zero Zero than Mome. I find this refreshing because with only 3 artists an issue, if a reader likes 2 of them then that is a 66% excitement ratio, which is pretty high for an anthology. Keep in mind that I have been in a few of these bigger anthologies and even edited and published some of them, so I’m no enemy of the bigger format, but it’s definitely a nice change to pay 3 bucks for Sarah Oleksyk, John Porcellino, and Vanessa Davis. Plus, I really miss buying pamphlet comics. It seems like a rare thing for me these days.



Other finds over the weekend include New Tales of Old Palomar #2 (which was great), the hilarious Krayon’s Ego, Superfuckers #279 (my favorite Kochalka comic), Super Spy, The Mourning Star Side Story 3, fellow CSULB alum Joshua Kemble’s Numb and some more things that still need to be read. It was a great show, we met some more great people, and I hope to make it again next year.

I’d also like to give a huge thanks to Top Shelf publisher Brett Warnock, his wife Lisa and rocker kid, Carter, for hosting us over the weekend.

The photo of Georgene and I is by Stumptown phototgrapher, Joshin Yamaha.

Hernandez vs. Malkasian

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Here are some photos from tonights signing at Book Soup in Hollywood with Gilbert Hernandez and Cathy Malkasian. I got me a copy of Gilbert's Chance in Hell that I plan to read during the long drive from L.A. to Portland for the Stumptown Comics Fest.

Where I'll be Tuesday night

You can also own some original Cathy Malkasian art that's on auction for a good cause.

Our Fighting Forces

Something I always do when I buy an old comic is check out the letters pages for familiar names. Every once in a while I'll come across letter whose author would go on to work in comics themselves. At the monstrous San Diego Comic-Con last July, I picked up a Jack Kirby issue of Our Fighting Forces (#160) from 1975. It was there that I read the letter above. I wondered if it could be the same Gregg Araki who directed movies like the Doom Generation and Mysterious Skin some 20 - 30 years later. After some quick IMDB research I found out that he grew up in Santa Barbara and that Goleta is in Santa Barbara County. He would have been 16 when this letter was published.

Etsy Store

Etsy is a website for people to sell hand-made wares. You can find things from toys to clothes to mini-comics. I've had a store on there for a few months and most of what I sell can also be found at my website shop. However, I do have some very limited, hand-made items like my cherry wood sketchbooks and the knitted Pentapus that my wife made from my character design.

A Small Preview of Upcoming Work.

Over the next 6 months or so, I'm going to have a number of comic stories popping up in various publications. Up first will be 2 short stories in Awesome: The Indie Spinner Rack Anthology. If you are not familiar with it, the Indy Spinner Rack is a podcast showcasing the world of indie comics with some reviews and interviews. Included in the anthology are a lot of cartoonists they've either interviewed or discussed, including: Alec Longstreth, Al Columbia, Jamie Tanner, and Nick Bertozzi. For a full preview click here. My stories are A Question of Faith, which is about three ducks and bad judgement and All-American Funnies, a 1-pager about a wrong number. The book will premiere at SPX later this month and be in stores in October.



I have recently found out that the Danny Hellman edited anthology Typhon will finally see print sometime in October. I'm not entirely sure who else is in this one, but I do know it's in color and is an almost square format. I submitted a 1-pager called Pentateuch Funnies starring Abraham.



In January of 2008, I will be returning to the pages of Mome with issue #10. This one will have an Al Columbia cover and I'll have a 9 page story called The Ten Fools, that I originally roughed out for the Fables of India book that I wrote about here a few months ago. I'm glad I had an opportunity to finish the story and that it will see print in Mome.

At the moment, I'm about halfway through inking an 18 page comic called The Man Who Loved Breasts. This will be in a stand alone comic with some other stories and will probably be about 32 pages total, all by me. I'm hoping to get all of the work done by the end of the year and have it come out some time in 2008. I'll post more info as I know it, but for now, here is a preview page.