News

whats new in my horizon? well i just lost my day job and am unemployed or as i like to call it a full time cartoonist. so in between looking for work to pay for christmas presents and bills and avoiding eviction i got my next line of comic projects comin up.

first im going to have 2 pages in the Latvian anthology KUS! which i started to draw already, its going to be a different approach, im drawing it entirely in colored pencil, kinda like the color pages of inhabitants. this wont drop until 2011 in february or so...ill keep you updated

secondly im helping put together a show at philly's coolest studio/gallery/hipster/screenprinting spot SPACE 1026. this also in february. ill keep my mouth shut as to what its going to be about and wait until the main curator whos running the show puts out his press release.

thirdly MATH FICTION SQUARED, the sequel to math fiction will feature more artists, more pages, more 3D, and more weirdness. im aiming for a MoCCA release in April.

fourthly my brother ian is in the very early fetus stages of coming up with an art-comic dudes themed manga. we talked about this on the car ride to and from brooklyn and basically its going to be all about book design and telling a 4 page story in 20 pages done by weirdo artists. if Math Fiction is like Heavy Metal this untitled Manga project will be like the thick newsprint digest sized manga (i dont read manga so i cant think of a title to compare it too)

and of course aside from all that i have my idea and very loose structure of my next book which i plan on making it a 5 issue 16-20 page mini comic series im gonna try to get published or a xeric grant graphic novel sometime in 2012. its going to be about Jon Bowman from 2001: a space odyssey, kramer from seinfeld, and my characters from inhabitants.

oh and one more thing
i still do webcomics over at INK ANSWER right now every monday i update with a new garfie---err... LAZY ORANGE CAT strip. check it out!!

Brooklyn Comics Graphics Recap

ive never really done any recaps before, i always just trolled the internet looking for a mention in others peoples blogs...so here it is

me and my older brother ian got to brooklyn around 1030 and set up. from 11-12 it was only the artists and the public wasnt let in yet. i used this time to be super OCD and rearrange my books 10 times over and again. i later regretted that and should have used that time to buy cool comics before they sold out/the place was to crowded to get to.

it was the most success ive had a comic con aside from PACC (i only have success from PACC cuz its MY show though).
the place was completely crowded all day long, with tons of people with actual money buying stuff! it being a curated comic show i had another distinct feeling of 'fitting in' compared to shows like spx or mocca where i feel like a little fish in a big pond that no one notices. also there wasnt any real big down time at all, i spent ALLLL day talking to a million different people, some i knew, but a lot of people interested in what i do.

i of course went there with MATH FICTION, which everyone seemed really pumped about. a ton of people looked through it at the show, and 21 lucky people bought a copy and left home with it! i had no expectation at ALL to sell all 21 copies i had at the show, i totally thought 15 would be the maximum i would sell! i was kicking myself wishin i brought more copies since i sold out of them around 6 15, had ian go back to his car so we could sell his contributor copy, i then walked around and showed some people i knew would be interested, then sold the last copy to Zak Sally at like 645. this is what it looked like



want some name dropping?
well some cool philly dudes stop by including, Art Baxter, Bob Pistilli (who was hard-selling secret prison), Steve Teare (who drew on a bunch of the 3d glasses), Jason Clarke (who actually live in nyc now, but hes still a 'philly dude' to me), Dre time, and Tommy Rudmoose

i also saw and chatted with some comix friends of mine like Cody Pickrodt, Tom Smo, Sam Gaskin, Leon and Barry from Secret Acres, Chris Pitzer, Benjamin Marra, Matt Wiegle, Sally Bloodbath, Jim Rugg and Josh Burggraf

and then i also met some cool new people and people i only knew via the net like Anne Koyama, Zack Soto, Mykl Sivak, Tony Shenton, Aidan Koch, Michael Deforge and Jen Tong

and i then talked to like a million more people whose names i forget including a guy that actually lives in philly too that i never heard of that gave me a porn comic and also the guy that runs the Jack Kirby Museum who had a bunch of Kirby Blacklight Posters that looked so god damn trippy in 3d glasses my brain meleted out of my ears a little bit.

the quality of books released was SOOOOOO fucking high.

the highlights of my stash were:
a Jen Tong million-color screenprint art object book
Hot Topic by Sam Gaskin and Matt Furie
Boys Club 4 by Matt Furie
Mongoloid Revenge by Josh Burggraf
the New Smoke Signal issue
Maureen Dowd and Night business 3 by Ben Marra
Uptight 4 by Jordan Crane
Spotting Deer and Lose 2 by Michael Deforge
Good n Ready by Cody Pickrodt
and a Zack Soto collection

i also wanted to get but didnt have the loot for the new issue of Taffy Hips, Closed Caption Comics 9, the new Study Group anthology issue, and Crickets 3 (pbox and desert island were on the front stage that was completely packed the whole time, so i didnt even get to check out what they had...)

it was a long grueling day and we didnt leave until about 845. but i think MATH FICTION went over well and all the responses were great. so many people read my little sign about it being in 3d and were confused, then to put on glasses and open up the book and be amazed and be like "WOW!"

this was also the first show i ever had where there was a crowd and at one point a small line of people at my table, waiting to check out the 3D. it was very ego-satisfying.

all in all it was a great show and had a great time and hopefully made a great impression with MATH FICTION

oh and also Secret Prison 3 was released too which is soooo good! best issue to date. SP is hopefully now in a groove of each issue being exponentially better then the last.

THIS WEEKEND

you can see shit like this in 3D!


WHAT?



oh. DUH!

debuting at the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Fest!

this is what i've been working on all fall!

it has 4 new stories in the genre of Math Fiction! each weirder then the last!

what is Math Fiction you ask?

well it's kinda like if GOD was just a bunch of numbers the size of a galaxy floating around the universe and created worlds where barbarians roam the wastedlands with mind reading powers that let them see in 6 different dimensions at once, all this is happening while in space entire races of beings,that eat quantum physics for breakfast, walk around doing uni-mind tasks that take billions of light-years to do just for fun. it of course can only be viewed in 3D.
its like Heavy Metal if it were still cool and drawn by me and my friends.

also debuting at my table is SECRET PRISON 3! another great issue with mind blowing artists of course.

the last match art show

so ive been in contact with some awesome Latvian cartoonists that put together the baltic comic magazine formerly known as Kusi! (now its just an S with a dot above it, however your pronounce that...)
anyways they asked me to be apart of there traveling art show exhibition known as 'the last match' where they sent me a very SMALL piece of paper to draw on, which will then be exhibited all around europe. the show is growing all the time and seemingly will go on forever, its been happening for about a year now and they have over 200 artists already. looking through the different artists on there flickr page there are about 10 or even less of the 200+ that are from the USA, so i'm really proud to be apart of this european art show representing the states. you can see the flickr page here and the blog about the show here
below is what i did for the show, next to a quarter to show scale

MATH FICTION 3D!!

soo i've been feverishly working on this comic anthology called Math Fiction which i'm playing editor on. its going to feature 4 stories in FULL 3D by me
Ian Harker
Will Cardini
and Josh Burggraf
here is the digital cover, the real cover will be a 2 color screenprint. it will premiere December 4 at the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Fest at the Yeah Dude Comics table


also premiering at BCGF will be Philly's own free newspaper tabloid Secret Prison 3! Featured artist that did the cover and 2 page color story is Aidan Koch, whos new graphic novella, the Whale, was just released on Gaze Books

watch that on the streets of Philly this holiday season!

REJECTION

One of my favorite part of being a cartoonist is getting rejected and the realization your not as good as you thought. oh wait thats my LEAST-FAVORITE part. oh well.
heres a image i did for the blog 'covered' where you draw a favorite cover of yours in your own style. i chose Howard the Duck 15

FACEBOOK COMICS

i have a facebook fan page for YEAH DUDE COMICS HERE


so i scanned in a bunch of old stuff today including the LONG LONG LONG out of print "Creatures Saying Foul Things" i made as a project for my illustration class sophomore year in college. i had access to free copying back then and i made a ton and handed these fuckers out around school, and when i presented it for critique my teacher had everyone in the class read a different page, it was great seeing the total straight-laced jamaican kid say 'banana republic isnt just for vampires anymore' and i remember a girl in my class refused to say 'the anal laundry should be ready'. good times! so 'like' yeah dude comics on facebook and you can read this old school zine, along with the out of print untitled freebie (cover shown below), in their raw scan form!





this is also on the facebook page and has been posted around the net before in its ugly color version, heres the raw scan of the xeroxed zine

Philly Zine Fest SUNDAY

I will be here this sunday selling comix and giving out secret prison 2!

SECRET PRISON 3!

WOW! were already at issue 3! in less then a year!
heres a preview of my comic. SP3 will be released at the brooklyn comics and graphics fest this december. more info about submitting work yourself go here

THIS SUNDAY!

ill be selling comics at little berlin's second annual BYOTY!
also did you know little berlin has a zine library? with some of my books! you can get a sneak peek online here, or come to the byoty in person, buy some of my books then check out the library! do it!

Going Global

i was lucky enough to be asked to participate in the international art show about hand-made zines, books, and comics called 'even my mum can make a zine' that took place at the gallery manzara perspectives in ISTANBUL, TURKEY! i had my books inhabitants and pat makes drawings 2, there for all to read, here are some pics i grabbed highlighting my stuff, you can see a ton more pics and a video of the opening at the site here

epic comic preview

right now im working on an epic comic anthology, the sheer scope of it is hush-hush for now, but here is some previews for you.

some character design



surprisingly this is the 3rd draft of the script, which is more or less the 'final draft', i do usually change some parts when i actually start penciling it, but this is how i usually work... extremely loose and sloppy.

this is cover desigin part-way done. the borders are all cut off cuz the page is top big for my scanner, but you get the point.

watch out for this epic book to be released at the brooklyn comics and graphics fest! december!

BEST FIND EVER

So i'm lucky enough to live by 2 awesome stores that sell old cheap comics across the street from each other, mostly books and philly aids thrift. they both get 'new' boxes of donated comics seemingly at least once a month. earlier in the month i was shockingly surprised to see someone donated a large collection of 70-80s marvel comics, i got some original jack kirby monster comics, a near complete run of howard the duck, and the daredevil comics that frank miller did when he introduced elektra and all the ninja stuff, all for about 3-4$ each which i thought was the ultimate find (ive been reading howard the duck all month long). but yesterday i was digging through the 50 cent bin at mostly books and my first awesome find was an issue of bone #7, only 50 cents! if that wasnt cool enough i found the best most obscurely awesome comic ever, MICHAEL JACKSON AS CAPTAIN EO IN 3D!!!
AND IT CAME WITH 2 PAIRS OF GLASSES UNOPENED!!!!! FOR 50 CENTS!!!

i must say, i remember owning a ninja turtles comic in 3d when i was a kid so i havent experienced original blue/red 3d in a long time, and i am blown away! its actually really fucking awesome looking. it basically makes it look like you can see the different planes of vision with space between the characters and the background. why dont they still make comics like these???


so whats it about? well on the cover it says its based after a movie that GEORGE LUCAS and FRANCIS COPPOLA MADE! what? how come i never heard of this? well it apparently was only released in disneyland, disneyworld, and the epcot center. upon some googling i found out it played from 86-90 and it actually got re-released this year! the story is so simple stupid. we start off being introduced to the 'rag tag band' in the middle of a space dog fight, its michael as captain eo and a few furry creatures (one named hooter whos ongoing joke is he eats everything) and a robot too (that later turns into a drum set)
their mission is to give a gift to a supreme leader of some unnamed planet. they end up crash landing on the supreme leaders planet by accident and get arrested. upon being arrested for trespassing michael tells the leader (a very clive barker looking monster girl) he has a present for her, which is of course a song and dance. she gets mad and tells her guards to kill them so while dancing michael apparently can shoot lightning from his hands and kills all the guards. he then goes on to kill the supreme leader, all while singing his song with the verse 'we are here to change the world!'.
it ends with some woman, who we dont know who she is, that just appears after the leader dies and smiles. the end.
so basically he goes to a planet, kills the leader, and replaces her with a new leader that isnt a hideous monster. sounds very american.


my head was to big for the cardboard frame so i had to tape them to my glasses to get the full effect

this is one of the funny parts, captain eo is being called by his superior, being nagged that hes late so hooter throws a big melon at the screen and michael does his patented 'hoo hoo!' COMIC GOLD!


this is apart of the dog fight in the beginning where the outrun the ship chasing them and make it crash and get destroyed killing all of its passengers, then michael screams 'woa!'


and this is the end, the first panel is the supreme leader monster being vaporized followed by the inexplicable woman appearing to end the comic.

its actually wonderfully drawn in realistic way, and 3d shots of all the space craft is my favorite part, all the ship parts are detailed and it looks like it goes back in space. its drawn by Tom Yeates.

BEST 50 CENTS SPENT ON A COMIC EVER

Bare Knuckle at SPX

my new book ive been furiously drawing for the past 3 weeks is now complete!

a 4 color, 10 page, beat em up classic called 'bare knuckle' referred to previously at 'super mega punch'

heres the cover and a preview of what kind of action is in store!

ill have these bad boys ready for spx this weekend! so watch out!

THIS FRIDAY

Ill hopefully get my shit together in time to hang a few pieces up in this show! i'll be there with comics for sale!

COUNTDOWN TO SPX!

SPX IS COMING! SEPTEMBER 11 AND 12TH!
ill be tabling with my partner-in-comics Ian Harker and soon it be friend Cody Pickrodt
THIS IS WHATS UP
the first image is a 'how to' of making a 8 page square comic from a 11x17 i emailed to ian while we were talking about the book were putting out together for SPX. i figured id post it on the internet cuz i spent 10 minutes making it.

another NEW BOOK ill have is Abstracted Comics, a 10 page full color book of all my abstracted comics you may have seen this past summer hanging at pterodactyl, last drop cafe, and currently at 1601 (10th/tasker, philly bitches)

this is a few page very early preview of what im working on with ian, a square, one panel per page, comic based after 'beat em up' games of yesteryear like bad dudes, double dragon, streets of rage etc. this is going to be 10 pages, full color, and when you flip the book youll get a ian harker comic of the same mythos, also 10 pages, i think, maybe more.

this is going to be 4 color, screen print-style, so much more detail will be added!


BUT WAIT! THERES MORE!

I will also have extra copies of the PACC anthology, SECRET PRISON 2, INK ANSWER #1, Inhabitants, my usual Pat makes drawings 2, untitled blue book, and boot legs.

BUT WAIT AGAIN! Remember WASTEDLANDS? ya know that webcomic i did for a few months last winter and gave up on? yeah that one! well ill have that FULL SERIES COLLECTED! for only a measley dollar you can get this story, without an ending, which you can read for free on the internet, and keep it for yourself to cherish and have forever!

SOO ALL THOSE AWESOME BOOKS BY ME! PLUS MORE FROM IAN AND CODY!
SO LOOK OUT FOR US! ITS GOING TO BE A FULL FUCKING TABLE!

SECRET PRISON BACK COVER

heres what i did for the back of secret prison 2 (i also did a comic inside which ill post later on once more copies get distributed)

and here it is in print, i really like it better on newsprint then computer screen.

PACC Aftermath

so i figure i might as well do a post about PACC, since, ya know, its my baby project.

this year exceeded my expectations so far. last year was a success but still had a lot of slow moments, this year i was literally running around the whole damn time like a mad man, and when i had a chance to sit i was actually selling comics! who'da thunk it?

it was great to have a 'big' small press publisher like secret acres get a table, but it was even better the fact that they came super early and helped me set up the tables. i wasnt sure if they were kinda shocked that it was super DIY having the star exhibitors set up the tables but by the end of the day when they were rolling in sweet comic cash it didnt seem to matter.

i was surprised at the huge amount of foot traffic we had, all day long, there wasnt 5 minutes gone by where nobody was coming through the door. last year the first hour and a half only like 2 people showed up, this year we had people comin in before all the exhibitors were even set up! my future-goal was to have people travel to come see pacc, ya know, a few years down the line when i get big enough names, but i reached that goal this year! i had a family (literally husband wife and kids) come by and tell me they drove from virginia for the day just to check it out! i was stunned! oh and kids, like literally, there were kids at this thing! hah! i dunno, i guess the whole stereotype is comics are for kids, but when you make books like mine and you hang out with cartoonists like the philly comix jam scene the last thing you think of is kids+comics.

of course being philadelphia, and the rotunda's lack of AC, it was a sweaty day which i think helped with the DIY atmosphere. im sure other, more heat sensitive people, would say otherwise though.

Secret Prison 2 took the con by storm as well as Dirty, 2 projects which im heavily apart of, and both are free. so i was super pumped about that, since i had no real 'new' book. i guess this was the debut of inhabitants at a comic con though.

im not sure the head count but im estimating in the 500's of attendees, one of which includes local legend (and PACC alumni) Charles Burns

it was a fun all day success, which was supposed to end at 6 but the room was so packed no one really left til 630.

i also learned some more about organizing shows and have a boatload of awesome ideas for next year to make it much bigger and better!

overall it was totally worth the 4 months of work. it paid all my summer bills! yay! no more debt (lies)!

its also really weird to be like a person-to-know type of deal, getting a lot of publicity and random emails from people. but now that its over ill have to wait til next summer before people start giving a shit who i am. it is definatley the type of thing i wonder constantly 'well these people know who i am now, but do they read my comics? appreciate my art? or are they just trying to network with a organizer of a comic con?' OH SELF DOUBT! i did sell out of my small stack of inhabitants early in the day and was kicking myself for not bringing more.

heres a pic of me pretending nobodies taking a picture of me talking what makes a man dress up like a bat? and secret prison 1 cover artist Jacob Yeager



MORE RECAPS HERE
SECRET ACRES
CURLS STUDIO
PLASTIC FARM (VIDEO!)
STEVE STREISGUTH
and my THANK YOU post at the PACC site (WITH LOTSA PICS!)

TERRIBLE REVIEWS

so i used to work at this vegan friendly pizza place called gianna's for 3 years here in philly. bored, looking through yelp.com i found a bunch of reviews, specifically targeting me and about how much of a rude dick i am, here are some highlights!

....The customer service was terrible too, the guy working was so unfriendly and kinda rude. Won't be coming back!

I have been eating here on and off for the past five years. Gianna's offers tasty food and terrible service. The restroom looks like a stadium bathroom after a triple overtime Eagles loss to the Cowboys.
If my rating was based solely on the food, I would give Gianna's four stars because their vegan food is usually pretty good and they come up with interesting combinations for pizza toppings. The vegan tomato pie with vegan beef and garlic is fantastic. That being said, it's hard to overlook the fact that you are normally treated like a hindrance instead of a customer. The restaurant could also use a thorough visit by Mr. Clean.

It's a dump inside like most pizza places, and the people that work there are so rude, it was a big turn off. I'll just be getting delivery from there now on and not dealing with the clowns that work in there at the register from now on.

2 friends from out of town wanted to go here because they saw the place on a food TV show. We showed up and were shocked at what a dump the joint is. Filthy, rag tag dilapidated chairs. And worse yet, the staff was just a bunch of bitchy hipsters. Seriously, they made us feel SO unwelcome that we left and went somewhere else. I would never go back to this place.

They are rude beyond belief. Oh I'm sorry to be so bothersome while I give you my money.

First off, I would have given this place a 2 or a 3 but they get 1 star for their rude, unhelpful staff (sorry, were we not hipster enough for you?) and fairly dirty interior. Seriously, would it kill them to clean? I'm surprised the health department hasn't been by recently. Trust me, I'm no stranger to divey places that are rough around the edges, but this place needed a serious cleaning.

First I see a highly patronizing, crabby sign that says something to the degree of, figure out if you are a vegetarian or a meateater and order accordingly. And no, you can't return your sandwich if it's wrong. I don't understand how there are love notes to this place in loopy handwriting next to this sign.

Then, the conversation with the went like this with the underage cashier:
Me: what kind of cheese do you have?
Him: mozarella, cheddar, american, provolone, cheese whiz, vegan, etc.
Me: okay, I'll have cheddar on my gigi special (that's the vegetarian cheesesteak which btw, turned out sort of bland and I'm sure full of dye and chemicals.)
Him: oh, we're out of cheddar
Me: (thinking it was retarded of him to mention cheddar when they were out of it). Okay, American.
Him: fine. drink?
Me: a water please
Him: oh we're out of waters too. Sorry!
Me: okay, a Sprite I guess.

Then I proceeded to order a vegan peanut butter cupcake, but it slipped out of my hands and crashed onto the floor. Because of the earlier sign and the ditziness of the cashier I didn't go back to get another, or even have the balls to ask for a free one - explaining my clumsiness.

I find the staff, while never quite rude, definitely not friendly and don't seem to give a damn that someone is a paying customer. It's definitely not a matter of "getting what you give," as I'm never rude, sometimes overly considerate and apologetic if I'm taking more than a few seconds. I just think it's their personalities.

RSVP to PACC via FACEBOOK

RSVP TO PACC HERE!!

BECOME A FAN HERE!

THEN INVITE ALL YOUR FRIENDS!!

dirty

you should all check out the new FREE Philly-based art magazine, dirty, which i art directed.
it has 3 pages of comics by my friends Beth Heinly, Ian Harker, Box Brown, James t. Arnold, and of course me.
as well as artist features of Brad Haubrich and Steve Streisguth.

it was a fun thing to put together, and they came out super sexy! nice thick glossy paper with a sewn binding!!

Fellow Philadelphians, watch for it at all the cool coffee shops, bars, record stores, and art galleries! ITS FREE!!

for the rest of the world you can view it online here

Seduction of the Innocent

my good friend Lance Hansen just released a new book of pinups featuring girls reading comic books called Seduction of the Innocent. I was lucky enough to be apart of this project and the only way to see my contribution is to buy the book here!

heres the blurb:
We are very excited about our newest art anthology, Seduction of Innocent. Seduction of the Innocent is a collection of Pin-ups, by various artists, of pretty girls reading comics. Artists include: Art Baxter, Jeffrey Brown, Ivan Brunetti, Tony Consiglio, Dylan Horrocks, Danny Hellman, Sam Henderson, Dave Kiersh, Peter Kuper, Walter Minus, Johnny Ryan, David Yurkovich and many, many others! Beautiful cover image by Seamus Heffernan!!

Official PACC Poster

as many of you know, im the head organizer/boss dude of the philly alternative comic con.
its august 8 and the contributor list is siiick. all the top mini-comic makers of philly will be there! check out the full contributor list at the PACC SITE HERE

CHECK OUT THE YEAR 300 MILLION

this is my new webcomic updated every monday at www.inkanswer.com
new strip up now! (its not the one posted here!)
and while your at it go ahead and browse the 100+ comics ink answer has, its updated on an almost daily basis!

MYSTIC MONSTERS

COME TO MY MOST EPIC MIND BLOWING ART SHOW EVER!!!




me and my good friend Adam Fergurson (hes actually the guy under luckys face in my profile pic) are currently working on a full on installation-mural-art-photo-insanity show at Pterodactyl!

its going to be called MYSTIC MONSTERS

and it will have

1 BP Oil Leak installation made of thousands of feet of vhs tape

2 abstracted comics

3 full wall mural of mystic monsters

4 found photos

5 re-appropriated advertisements

6 an 8 foot collaborative drawing/collage

7 a collaborative triptych done on vellum

8 full wall of adams work

9 wall of comics by me

10 opening night dj dance party!

its going to be massive and span every media!!

go here for the facebook page