Th SPX Haul

I thought I would share with everyone my SPX take...a few days late I know, but better late than never.

Palestine special edition HC
Essex County Vol 2: Ghost Stories
Aya HC
SHortcomings HC
Big Plans #1 and 2
Skyscrapers of the Midwest #4
House of Twelve #1-4
Assholes #1
Breathers #0 and 1
4 Blink minis
My Brain Hurts #7
Remake #2
Me & My Monkey: The Seven Pillars of Fate
Pirate Shorts
The Intergalactic Adventures of Alien & Yeti
Erica Hesse sketchbook
Broads & Monsters: Sketches by Pat Lewis
Atom Bomb Bikini #5
Halloween Stinks
Alex Robinson's Lower Regions
Hideous: A Monster Romance
Bird Call: Sketches, Drawings, and Illustrations by Jamie Tanner
You Can't Give it Back

Quite the Haul!

I'm still working on getting the Scrapple Jam up. The art is a little too big for my scanner, so I am working on a clever way to get it up so everyone can see it. Thanks for your patience!

SPX 2007: Still the Best!

This last weekend (Oct 12-13) was the 2007 Small Press Expo, held in Bethesda, Maryland at the Bethesda North Marriott and Convention Center. It's arguably the largest and best convention for small press comics, fanzines, and other related print matter out there. This is my second SPX, and the first as an actual exhibitor. Instead of bringing a bunch of stuff from Ape, I decided just to bring SubCulture-related thingies. SubCulture is far and away the most 'indie' book that Ape puts out, so I figured it would have a shot at doing well there.

Thursday, Oct 11
I decided pretty late in the game to stay in the DC area on Thursday, and the block reserved for SPX was sold out. I had to look elsewhere and got lucky, as a Sleep Inn in Rockville, approximately 7 miles away from the convention center, was available pretty cheap ($81 a night). I arrived in town around lunchtime with the intention of going into DC and seeing an attraction or three. I took the metro down to the mall and spent a few hours at the National Gallery of Art. I find it fascinating to see portraits and paintings in person that are recognizable from textbooks, television shows, and the like, and the NGA didn't disappoint.

Thursday night there was a pre-con get-together at Big Planet Comics in Bethesda, which is an indie-lover's dream. Not having an LCS near me in NC, it was nice to hang around in a well-stocked, clean, and organized store like Big Planet. I wish all stores where like this one. As bad luck would have it, my two dates for the evening--SubCulture artist Stan Yan and The Key's Erica Hesse, both stood me up (heh) so I ended up going stag. I did know a few folks, like Chris Pitzer from AdHouseBooks and Kevin from the Vienna store, so all was good. However, I was tired from a long drive and a lot of walking, so headed back pretty early.

Friday, October 12
Show time! I got to the convention center around 11:00 or so and set up the booth. It didn't take long, which gave me time to get a little lunch.


In addition to the first three issues of SubCulture (available now!) I brought t-shirts, button sets, a limited print, and a stack of free stickers to give away to folks. I also brought a photocopy of issue 4, which is at the printer as we speak and should be out around the beginning to middle of November.

After lunch, I had time to browse the exhibit hall a bit. The quality of stuff at SPX is amazing--even the mini comics, once the home of those who simply couldn't make it in the industry, were done by people with unbelievable talent. It makes me wish I could draw for shit.

I sold a few books, bought a lot of stuff, and ended up swapping a few books as well. It's common knowledge that comics at SPX are legal tender, and swapping with other creators is common practice--so I brought a few extra copies of my book for that sole purpose. I also got to see a lot of old aquaintences and friends including Rob Ullman and Matt Kindt, and meet several new folks, like Squidwork's John Peters and My Brain Hurts' Liz Baillie.

The highlight of the day was my decision to start a jam piece that would be passed around the whole weekend. I drew the first panel, and passed it on to other creators, who would contribute their own panel, then pass it on to someone else. Before the end of the weekend, it ended up being 43 panels long (which is an unheard of size) and came to be known as the "Scrapple Jam."

SPX really comes to it's own at night. The con is nice enough to supply a cash bar on the first floor, plus there is the 'regular bar' on the hotel level. If you know someone, you can get a ticket for a free drink or three. Fortunately I knew a couple, and didn't have to spend a whole lot of money. I spent most of the evening with Erica Hesse (The Key) and Danielle Corsetto (Girls with Slingshots), two bundles of fun that made the evening that much more enjoyable.

Several new pieces were added to the Scrapple Jam, and I ended up staying awake until around 2:00 in the morning.

Saturday, October 13
Saturday was a busy day, and sales were brisk. I didn't get to mosey around the floor quite as much as I wanted to, although I did manage to get Rutu Modan to sign my copy of Exit Wounds (which is terrific, btw). She also put a fun little sketch inside the book, for which I was tickled. I also got a copy for my sister-in-law, who slowly but surely is starting to pick up a few graphic novels here and there. Overall, I sold more books than I did at Wizard World Chicago (!!) although to be fair, I only had to worry about my comic and not everyone else at Ape's. So that certainly helped.

That evening, Danielle had already gone, and Erica had gone to bed early, so I hung out with Stan and some new folks at the bar at the Ignatz Award afterparty. I got plenty of new additions to the Scrapple Jam (which I am scanning as we speak--links to come). The jam piece went so well that I am going to turn it into a yearly ritual, for sure.

Some pics!

SubCulture Latest News

Okay, okay. Three blogs in and I'm already late on one. Bear with me. RL has been hectic, and I've had a sick cat, which has delayed things for me a bit.

SubCulture #2 is in the books. All of the story pages are done, we've got two pinups, and the front and back covers are complete. All that is left is to get three pages of advertisements and finish the inside front cover. I might put a letters/next page in there as well, because Stan and I are planning on running a couple of contests.

SubCulture #3 is doing well also. Stan has completed 13 pages plus the front cover. I'm lining up a couple of pinups (maybe three for this one) as well.

The first issue will be in Previews at the end of the month--it hits stores on February 28th--with a release date for SubCulture #1 scheduled for May 16th.

Between now and then, I'm working on a few promotional things as well. I've added wallpapers, avatars, and banners to the website. I'm looking at a few online places to advertise. Soon I'll be contacting some of the LCSs in the area to try to get them to carry the book. And I'll be hitting all the bulletin boards and forums that I am a member of. Closer to the relese date, we'll send out review copies to many of the major reviewers out there in hopes of getting some good press. I've also tentatively put together my convention schedule for 2007--I'm going to San Diego for the first time, which is pretty damn groovy. We'll see if my 37-year old body can handle the scrum.

What, Pray Tell, Am I Reading?

They say you can learn a lot about a person from the comics that they read. I don't know who the heck 'they' are, but I think that it's certainly true, to some extent.

With that being said, I thought I'd open up my world to folks a little bit and give you an idea of what sorts of Four Color Fiction is sitting on my nightstand these days. They aren't in any particular order. Enjoy!

Usagi Yojimbo: Constantly my favorite book month after month, and has been for years. A lot of people put this in the Manga category, but it's atypical, if Manga at all. Stan Sakai does his homework, and it's created a rich universe that I never get tired of.

Y: The Last Man: Another staple of mine--a story that has kept my interest since the beginnings. It's a shame to see it ending this year, but I admire the fact that the story has a planned, definitive end.

The Spirit: Only two issues have been printed so far, but I'm hooked. I love Darwyn Cook's work, and he's perfect for this book--he has just enough Eisner style for it to work. As an aside, if you haven't read DC: The New Frontier, you're an idiot! :)

PVP: Definitely one of the books that inspired SubCulture. It's constantly funny, and Scott Kurtz is a genuinely nice guy.

Knights of the Dinner Table: Same idea as PVP. I spent years in the trenches as a gamer, and this book is spot on in capturing the genre. We all know a few Bobs, Daves, Sarahs, and Brians. I'm a B.A., if you must know.

B.P.R.D.: I love this book. Guy Davis is such an underrated artist, but he creates a perfect mood for the stories they are trying to tell. It's no step back at all from Hellboy. I'm glad that new mini-series come out on a regular basis.

Fables: Still a good book, although I think it's slipped just a bit in recent months. I think a lot of it might have to do with Willingham spreading himself a bit too thin by doing Shadowpact and Jack of Fables at the same time. I might go strictly to trades, but it hasn't dipped to the point that I am rethinking picking up the book.

All-Star Superman: I wish this book came out more often, but it's a fun read--definitely goes against the grain of a lot of typical superhero stuff out there. In fact, this and Astonishing X-Men are really the only two superhero books I read any more. Part of it, I'm sure, is that you don't have to keep up with an entire universe to stay on track.

Astonishing X-Men: I think the third storyline in issues 7-12 fell just a tad, but his Whedon's third story arc really got my juices flowing again. I wish all superhero books where this good. Cassaday's art is perfect for this book as well.

Conan: This book is just plain fun. It's got a very old school feel to it, and it's as pretty a book as you're going to find anywhere. I'm restricting myself to just buying the collected hardcovers, so waiting between issues is tough. But this book deserves to be read in a long setting, so I don't mind waiting.

That's probably my top ten right now. Sure, I pick up lots of other things here and there, and am reading a lot of trades and OGNs right now also (some of my favorites that I'll share in my next post).

I'm definitely open for suggestions too, so if there's something out there that is too good for me NOT to read, by all means pass it on!

The Life of a Managing Editor

I thought I'd fill folks in a little on what my routine is as the Managing Editor at Ape Entertainment.

I have a real-life job, as I jokingly refer to it, which means that I can't dedicate all of my time to Ape stuff. But over the last couple of weeks, here are a few of the things I have done:

• Edited the five-page Goblin Chronicles story for our Free Comic Book Day issue, coming out in May.
• Edited the scripts for issues 2 and 3 of the same Goblin Chronicles.
• Worked with Stan in creating a FCBD ad for SubCulture
• Reviewed about a dozen or so submissions and pitches, for pencilers, inkers, colorists, and whole stories (I do this every Thursday). Most of the submissions that cross my desk 'aren't quite there yet,' but on occasion there are some that catch my eye, which I in turn send to David and Brent for their comments
• Sent out a few issues of SubCulture #1 to solicit for pinups for future issues
• Keep up with the public and private Ape message boards

So it's a pretty busy routine for me. But I do enjoy it. It's nice to see how things work from this perspective.

Does Everyone Need a Blog?

Okay. I've caved into peer pressure and gotten a bloody blog. A word of warning however--I'm not terribly good about updating these sorts of things on a regular basis. Chances are, the rate in which I update this will be in direct proportion to how many people actually read this thing on a regular basis.

With that said, what the heck am I going to write about? Comics. At least my take on it.

Okay, I'll be a little more specific. There are three primary things I'll address in these hallowed pixels.

First, I'll keep you updated on my current comic project, SubCulture. For the uninitiated, it's a four issue miniseries from Ape Entertainment due in stores in mid-May of this year. It's a slice-of-life book centered around a comic store and three of its patrons--a closet geek, a proud fanboy, and a passive aggressive femme fatale. Here's the cover for the first issue, done by fan favorite Jim Mahfood!

I'll talk about where Stan and I are on the project, dates, and hopefully give a little inside information about how the process works in genera.

Second, I'll give you my take on things going on in the industry. News, gossip, rumors, how I feel about current comic trends, and similar stuff can and will be covered as needed. It might be in the form of a convention report, a big news event or release, and so on. It might be just a bar story about me and some other creater. Who the heck knows? ;)

Third, I might, just might, give reviews on books. I don't read a whole lot of stuff, and I tend to like the stuff that I read, so my reviews could be a bit biased. But that's okay. I do read a lot of smaller press stuff, so I might turn you on to something you may not have heard of.

We'll see how this goes. Wish me luck.