Sketch Group 8/25

Thought I'd post a couple sketches created at Richmond Sketch Group the other day. Sketch Group is an every-three-weeks-or-so meeting I began awhile ago for local cartooners and illustrators to get together at a coffee shop to draw and chat a bit. Drawing can be a pretty solitary gig, and it's always nice to get out and see other people once in a while!

Red-Headed Stepchild

My pal Eric has been breaking my balls on a pretty regular basis recently over the infrequency of my posts recently (Eric, who went a year between posts before finally throwing in the toweland taking down his site a couple weeks ago!). Suffice to say, work continues to dominate my time, but with a few moments to spare, I figure now's a good time to check in.

What am I working on? Well, for starters, there's this week's issue of The Washington City Paper, to which I contributed a cover illustration and several inside spots for a story (a rant, actually) about the frustration that is office life. For the last five years I've illustrated Dan Savage's Savage Love column for the City Paper every single week, and now and then they ask me to work on something extra. It's really one of the best gigs imaginable...they're so easy to work with I almost feel guilty taking money for it. Anyway, it's free all over town, so if you ever happen to find yourself in the nation's capital, make sure to pick it up.

Next up is the ongoing McGraw-Hill project (which I've been working on for several weeks but will now receive my full attention), writing and drawing a series of five- and six-page comics that will be used as chapter introductions in textbooks. It's an awesome, incredibly demanding job...most of the stories are either science or history, and therefore demand a pretty extensive bit of research to make sure everything looks right. This is one where I feel like I'm earning it.

Finally, I have a few projects I'm trying to finish up for the Small Press Expo next month in Bethesda. It seems like every year I'm struggling to get something done for this show...no matter how aware I am of the deadline going in, I'm always on the verge of blowing it. It's a great feeling!

Friday...Do or Die Day

Been a pretty busy week around the homestead, and I've been working too hard to do much of anything besides...well, work. There were a few bits of interesting, if occasionally self-centered, news this week:

• I recieved a great review for Lunch-Hour Comix on Mark Frauenfelder's excellent Boing Boing website. Thanks for everything, Mark! And thanks to Rusty for pointing it out!

• My favorite show these days is Justice League Unlimited...it's absolutely every DC fanboy's dream come true. They released a bit of news about the upcoming season at Comicon, and it sounds like it's gonna stay on the top of my "must-see TV" list.

• Hockey's Back! Ye gods, it's about time!

Jim Aparo 1932-2005

What a bummer. Jim Aparo was responsible for a pretty huge percentage of the comics I saw in my real early years of reading, with the Aquamans and The Brave and the Bolds that seemed to find their way into my hands, and was probably the first artist whose name I recognized. He had a great run on B&B, lasting almost 100 issues and in the process, giving Aparo the opportunity to draw nearly every character in the DC Universe at the time. And his Aquaman issues...stories by Steve Skeates, with art (and lettering!) by Aparo and covers by Nick Cardy...no wonder the Sea King was my favorite hero growing up!

I followed his run on Batman and The Outsiders too...he was doing good stuff even then, well into the 80s, until they saddled him with terrible inkers (Mike Decarlo, ughh...he could make Eisner look bad) and he seemed to drop off the map.

I wish I'd had a chance to meet the man...Rest in Peace, Jim!

"What Did You Do, Ray?"

At sketch group last night, the talented Eric Sturdevant was working on caricature of evil Republican mastermind Karl Rove. I let go with my standard barrage of insults and epithets, as few people in the world raise my ire quite like this douchebag. "He's a power-mad scumbag!", all that. Eric took it a step further, saying that he personally thought that Rove was the Antichrist. "He doesn't look like he would be, but he is." And that's when it occurred to me...Rove is the Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man. He's the living embodiment of all that is evil disguised as a doughy bald guy in Wal-Mart glasses.

I think that, while horribly misguided and feeble-minded, Dubya actually thinks, as a result of his evangelical programming, that what he's doing is right. Rove, on the other hand, seems completely amoral, driven only by and willing to do anything to gain power. His disgusting character assassination of John McCain during the 2000 SC primary is evidence of that (Seriously, are there any reasonable (i.e., non-fundamentalist) right-leaners out there who think McCain wouldn't have done a better job as president than Bush? You have this walking sack of diarrhea to thank for making sure it wouldn't happen.). He's terrifying...and though I think the chances are slim, I'd love nothing more than to see his fat ass nailed to the wall.

I Need a Hero!

I went to Charlotte, North Carolina for the Heroes Con a few weeks back and it absolutely rocked the frickin' house. I'd been to the con before, both as spectator and exhibitor, and while I'd always had a good ol' geeky time, I was never exactly blown away by the indy/art comix presence at the show. The con organizers (most notably the amazing Dustin Harbin) took it upon themselves to address those concerns this year, creating a little oasis of altcomics in the middle of the convention floor (aptly named Indy Island), and it was an unfathomable success. I'd always considered Charlotte to be an artless metropolis full of bankers and wanna-be bankers, but did the Queen City ever prove me wrong! I had one of my best shows ever, and I'm definitely heading back in '06!

Anyway, I had planned to do a whole big con report, but at this point I've kinda run out of steam, so I'm gonna leave the reportage to my good pal J. Chris Campbell, whose Heroes Con report woulda left mine in the dust even if I had remembered to take pictures! Excelsior!

I Wish I Had Some Idea...

...what the hell this is all about.

Hmm-Hah! So Long, Myron!

I'd be incredibly remiss if I didn't take a moment to note the retirement of Myron Cope from the Pittsburgh Steelers Radio Broadcast Network...as a longtime Stillers fan who has never actually lived in Pittsburgh, radio was often the only option for following my favorite team, whether it was via crispy AM frequencies when I lived in NE Ohio or more recently over the internet while residing in NC and Virginia. Myron, with his loopy catch phrases and self-described "nails-on-a-chalkboard" voice, was always a treat to hear. True, other teams' fans usually found him more annoying than endearing (especially those in Cincinnati, whose team Cope consistently referred to as "The Bungles"), but that just made him more special to the Steelers Nation. And no one could deny he was one of a kind.

And to top it all off, he invented the Terriblle Towel! How cool is that?

Photo by Peter Diana, Pgh. Post-Gazette

A Delicious Hot MoCCA

I made my trip up to New York last weekend for the Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art (or MoCCA) Artsfest, driving up on Friday with my pal J Chris Campbell. We rolled into Brooklyn at around 6 pm or so, grabbed some awesome Thai food at a great little joint in our host Greg Babb's Park Slope neighborhood, and walked the busy streets a bit before turning in a little early in anticipation of the busy weekend ahead.

Saturday morning we called a car service for easy transport and lugged all our stuff over to the lovely Puck building in SoHo where the show was being held. J Chris, who publishes his book ZigZag with AdHouse, was sharing space with AdHouse head honcho Chris Pitzer. I personally had decided to only rent a table for one day, Sunday, and I figured I'd just peruse the con as a fan on Saturday. However, when I saw where the table I was assigned was located, on the absolute ass-end of the con (a lurid.com tradition!), I was despondent. It was probably my own fault, as I'd waited til the last minute to apply for a table, but I was nonetheless quite disappointed to have such a horrendous location, where I was virtually assured to make no sales at all.

Thankfully, I happened to whine about my bad fortune to Chris Radtke and Mike Dawson, creators of the fantastic Gabagool! funnybook, and they let me set up at their table gratis! (apparently an adjacent exhibitor hadn't shown up and they ended up with twice the space they paid for.) Truly a spectacular gesture. I was humbled, but only for a moment, as I quickly scurred over, grabbed my goods and set up shop. Good thing too, cause most of the sales were on Saturday!

Sunday was good as well, if a bit slower somehow...lotsa browsers, but not as many buyers. As always, I saw and got to hang out with all kinds of great old friends and made some new ones.

And the heat! There's nothing quite like NYC in the summer, which is when I always seem to be there. It sticks to you, follows you like a shroud...being in the subway tunnels on a scorching day is like being inside someone's lungs! You start to question what you're doing with your life when it's 95 degrees out and you're standing there on the street lugging around a fifty pound box of comic books you photocopied and stapled yourself.

But anyways, overall the show itself was pretty great. I went in '02 and '03, when it was only one day, and it was way too crowded for my taste and sanity. The switch to two days has alleviated that problem, and while I'd still pick SPX as my favorite show, MoCCA is a blast and I'm sure I'll head back next year.

To Hell with Bill, Kill Me!

Friday night I watched Kill Bill Vol.2 and I gotta say, pretty much snoresville. I just don't fucking get it, this Tarantino guy. I think he's completely full of shit.

Lest you think I'm a big dope who can't appreciate a slow-moving flick without a shitload of explosions and titties, know this: Right after KB:V2 (mercifully) ended, I flipped to Encore or something where Winged Migration had just begun, and I spent the next 90 minutes enraptured by the spectacular footage of birds flying south.

The Best Month Ever?

So, this June will see the release of new records by the Pernice Brothers, Fountains of Wayne (actually a collection of rarities, but two discs worth of 'em!), and The Posies!

If you're me, well, you couldn't be more excited!

Ten Million Holes in Your Head.

Yeah, the world needs another blog about as much a submarine needs a screen door...but T.S., you know? If you don't like it, go read The Onion or something.