The Atom-Bomb Bikini Holiday Sale!

Folks, if you'll permit me a moment of crass commercialism...I've added a few extra deep discounts to the Atom-Bomb Bikini web shop, which'll continue through the weekend (until Monday morning, to be exact)! Lotsa stuff is up to and over half-off, including:

Atom-Bomb Bikini: The Lurid Art of Robert Ullman!
Normally $16, my signature book is on sale for just eight clams. I've never offered it this cheap before, at a con or otherwise, so grab while the grabbin's good!

Grand Gestures!
Just $2! What a deal!

Stickers!
Only 50¢ each! Are you kidding me?

In addition, most prints are on sale for $10! No codes to enter or any of that BS, just click it and I'll ship it, well in time for Christmas, Hanukkah, Festivus, or whatever it is you choose to celebrate with mass consumption! But remember, the sale only goes through the weekend, at which prices will return to their usual gouge-tastic selves, so ACT TODAY!

Happy Holidays!

The ABCs of ABC

A few recent Stranger spots, all of them having to do with the city's ever-changing liquor laws.

Bil Keane 1922-2011

The funnies lost another grand old man today with the passing of Bil Keane, creator of The Family Circus. Family Circus, along with Peanuts, was one of the very first comic strips I remember ever reading...but though my fondness for Schulz's masterpiece grew and grew over time, I really soured on Keane's work as the years went by, as it seemed to lose every bit of its edge and descended into endlessly repetitive jokes and treacly, Extreme Home Makeover-esque forced sentimentality. Still, the first 20 years or so, as good a run as anyone could ever hope for, were often brilliant, helped by the fact that the kids came across as real kids (ie. sociopathic little bastards) rather than the type of children you'd find on greeting cards.

I even managed to work one of Keane's tropes into one of my odder Savage Love illos a few years ago, in response to a letter from a reader who surmised her boyfriend must be cheating on her, as the supply of condoms in the house always seemed to be running low. Not Me, indeed!

Rest in Peace, Mr. Keane!

Girls n' Guns

It's great to have clients with a complete understanding of your wheelhouse.

Halloweirdos!

For a variety of reasons, I've been remiss about posting about the fantastic Halloweirdos project that's been running all October at the Wide Awake Press website. A different creepy or crawlie every day, by some spec-fackin-tacular artists. The second of my pieces for the month went up this afternoon...do yourself a favor and page through the amazing entries that've gone up over the last few weeks. If it don't put you in the Halloween sprit, nothing will!

Vive les Nordiques!

Whale Tale

Vandy is Dandy

Created for superpal Kevin F...the more the merrier!

Game Six - Sabres at Penguins - All the Neal Girls

Just a quickie today, gang...it's too nice outside. Besides, it's just the Sabres, AMIRITE?
LET'S GO PENS!

Game Five - Capitals at Penguins - Black Helmet

Let's be honest, this is the only piece of equipment anyone is interested in today!

Game Four - Home Opener - Panthers at Penguins

Sadly, these sharp sweaters will probably always be synonymous with Sid getting his brain broken. But I still like 'em!

Regarding the Panthers...I harbor a surprising amount of hate for a team that's been a doormat for 85% of it's existence. I never have and never will forgive this joke of a franchise for clutching and grabbing us out of an epic, Lemieux/Jagr vs. Sakic/Forsberg Stanley Cup Final. The idiot fans with their stupid rats...and the completely inept embarrassment of a decade and a half that's happened since. How does a city as apathetic as Miami even still have a team? Just die and move already.

Game Three- Penguins at Oilers

The streak continues! Here's tonight's good luck charm!

What? You'd expect a girl rocking a Cookie Monster sweater to have a hair color other than blue?

Game Two - Penguins at Flames

I'm gonna post a new illo every gameday until the Pens lose their first game of the season. We'll see how long this takes!

It's a Great Day for Hockey

'Nuff said.

Actually, not quite enough. My Stanley Cup pick? Pens over Sharks, for the fifth consecutive year.

Geeks and Sluts

Some assignments are just too good to be true. I got a call from the Las Vegas Weekly a couple weeks back to provide an illo for a story wistfully recalling the days when the porno film industry's AVN Awards and the high-tech Consumer Electronics Show shared Sin City for a weekend each year, and the colorful hotel bar interactions that the pairing provided. God bless us every one.

Caps Couple

I did this up recently for a sweet couple who also happen to be huge Capitals fans. Congrats and safe travels to the new bride and groom, and here's hoping their blessed union lasts longer than the average Caps playoff run! (just kidding, guys!)

X is for Xenops

Backup debut date for the Animal Alphabet mini-sketchbook is October 1 at Crafty Bastards. I'll keep you posted.

Dylan Williams

My friend Dylan Williams passed away last Saturday, after battling cancer for years. I wasn't super-tight with Dylan...and as I always suspected and as the outpouring of love and respect that has cascaded through the comics world over the last few days has proven, Dylan was friends with dang near everyone he ever met. But I had to just say a few words.

I first remember hearing his name way back in the mid-90s...picked up his Reporter comic somewhere, which I'm pretty sure I read about in Jeff Levine's Destroy All Comics magazine. We finally met in probably 2002 at the SPACE convention in Columbus, Ohio, by which time his Sparkplug Comic Books publishing concern was up and running, putting out all kinds of awesome stuff. We had dinner at the same restaurants if not the same tables, always chatted a good bit and it was always so enjoyable. He was so funny, so gracious. I'd see him at shows all over...Dylan was a road warrior, spreading the gospel of comics...and every minute I spent with him made me look forward to the next time I'd see him.

In 2008, Dylan emailed me, asking about coming to the Richmond Zine Fest. Knowing how Richmond events sometimes go, and knowing that he'd have to come all the way from Portland, I actually sorta warned him against it, thinking he could be wasting his cash. But he decided to come, and in the end I was glad he did. The show was pretty good...we hosted a panel on doing mini-comics, and blabbed about anything and everything all day, and then went to Ipanema for dinner. It was so great to finally get a chance to hang out and just shoot the breeze with no responsibility to selling books at a convention table...it was just like I always thought it'd be.

I didn't even know Dylan was or ever had been sick. I found out about it just a few weeks ago when the entire internet came together to implore folks to purchase some books from Sparkplug to defray Dylan's medical costs. I didn't even buy any, figuring that picking a few up at SPX in a couple weeks instead would serve the same purpose. I got back from the show, and somehow, he was gone. And I still just can't believe it. I just can't believe I'll never see him again.

Anyway, I'm sure there are still bills to be paid, so if you would, consider heading over to Sparkplug and spending a few dollars on some fine comics. I recommend everything there, but some particular favorites are Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man by John P., Rambo 3.5 by Jim Rugg, Tales to Demolish by Eric Haven, The Natural World by Damian Jay, Watching Days Become Years by Jeff Levine, anything by David King, and Reporter by Dylan Williams.

This Weekend: SPX and More!

Whew! I've been so busy preparing for it that I've had nary a minute to mention that the Small Press Expo is coming up this very weekend!

But first...

I was invited to take part in a comics roundtable discussion at the University of Maryland this Friday, September 9, from 1-3PM. It's called Bleeding the Narrative: Comics in Art and Culture, and I'll be there along with other panelists Jim Rugg, Monica Gallagher, Alexis E. Fajardo and Carolyn Belefski, who are all super-cool...it should be a really fun and likely quite hilarious time. I'll be talking about my comics and illustration, my techniques and methods, and how godawful the Terps football uniforms looked the other night.

It's open to the public at the Michelle Smith Collaboratory for Visual Culture, which is on the 4th floor of the Art-Sociology Building. Love to see you there.

The next day, I'll be at SPX, bright and early when the show opens at 11. I'll have at least one new book, the new Old-Timey Hockey Tales, and maybe a new issue of Teeny Bikini if the stars align correctly. I'll be splitting a table with my pal Bill Burg, whose new book March might end up being the book of the show. It's really that good.

We'll be right up front at E-15, right across from the CBLDF...be there or be squared!

W is for Wallaby

As I was working on this drawing yesterday at the coffee shop, I discovered that one of the gals who works there was raised in Australia! How random is that?