i did this little painting on paper mounted to board(11″X11″) last year for the grass hut balls out show. i plan on putting it up on my estythis week.

so today is free comic book day and again i am trying to get this out before i run out of the house screaming. this time i am going to the good old cosmic monkey, one of the best comic stores i can think of. i will be there from 11 to 2 just in case you are reading this right away and are close to the store. after this i think i will go back into hiding. hopefully i will keep posting on this internet thing though. i put some stuff back up on my etsy for super cheap and am trying to get into doing more selling of art stuff on there. for real honest to goodness comic page purchases please visit my friends in Canada the beguiling art store. i was just on there the other day and saw they were selling my complete stories from dark horse comics presents and bird hurdler, Em and Gwen: Magic Spell – Complete Story Parts 1 and 2. 14 pages of some of my favorite comic pages i have done. the cool part is you can read the whole story on there in glorious black and white. seeing that makes me really want to get a decent comics section done on my site. one of these ding dong days i will, hopefully before the world ends.

also speaking of free comics days. greg means put together a cool new free book he is passing out at tcaf this weekend. go by his table and say to the excellent fellah.

As there is every friday i have a new installment of IT WILL ALL HURT up on the studygroup comics site. i was selling pages from that story at the stumptown comics fest and plan on putting them up on my esty. i will try to have some ready by next week. every week flies by and i feel like i am not getting anythign done. i guess that is fairly common. stumptown went swell, fairly low stress levels and i got to see a bunch of good people. i was on two panels where i tried not to say anything stupid and failed. i have no idea what i am talking about ever. i don’t think i should be allowed to do those anymore or to speak in public in general. I did receive a lot got a lot of good feedback about my prophet issue which was really nice, and I saw my colorist, the fantastic Joseph Bergin III there too. i guess we should have had issue to sell and sign there. oh well, next time. also going on this weekend in portland is a big studio ghibli film festival:

i did this piece as a commission which i think i have posted about already but seemed to fit perfectly for the show. there are several posters of different miyazaki films done by different local comic artists all around town.

One of my favorite artists craig thompson put our picture up on his blog from a drawing session we had recently. that was fun. thanks craig. and i am running late so i am going to pinch this off but one last thing was there is a fan art site on tumblr for prophet called prophet sharing. i just submitted this sketch:

i did it for some cool guys i met in chicago. they do a comic called beef jamz which is pretty hilarious and awesome.

okay so that is it for this week. see you in a few.

**the above image was a promotional design i did for a swell comic book store in the bay area called fantastic comics. i might have a t-shirt or two of it to sell this weekend but i am not 100% sure. if you really want to get one of these please pick one up from fantastic comics.

**i would like to let you good people on the internet know that i will be presenting myself and some books and prints tomorrow and sunday at the stumptown comics fest right here in sun-shiney portland, oregon. it’s probably the only show i am going to do this year.  come on by if you please.

Stumptown Comics Fest 2012

Oregon Convention Center – Portland, Oregon

Saturday, April 28th, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Sunday, April 29th, 12:00 noon – 6:00 pm

this year i will be on two panels on sunday, both in Room B116

2-2:45pm • The New Underground (moderated by jason leivian)

and

4-4:45pm • The Dreaded Deadline Doom (moderated by douglas wolk)

and i’d like to give special thanks to fellow comic booker indigo kelleigh for having me be part of the show.

** i know i haven’t been too consistent with these bloggings but i have been posting a new IWAH strip every friday on the on the study group comics site. have i mentioned that i really like all the other comics on there? well i am serious, dammit. there are some really good comics on there, all for free. It Will All Hurt is sort of a side story for stuff i couldn’t fit in the wrenchies. looser and cruddier than my normal style, it doesn’t take me too long to bust out and it’s a nice break from doing the more labor intensive work on prophet or the wrenchies. i feel it is also good for me to have a regular on-going web strip, good practice for when i actually set up a decent comics section on this website. eventually i’d like to have every stinking comic page i have ever done available on-line for free. i’ll get there eventually. for now this is at least me trying something.

**It seems my issue of prophet is getting a mostly positive response. thanks for all the good words put forth out there, guys. i really gave it my all. there are two issues between my issue #24 and the next issue am drawing. Since i had so much stuff going on brandon graham and giannis milonogiannis (who did the incredible cover to issue #24) were kind enough to get their issues done first. my next issue will be #27. and my story will pick up a couple months after the end of issue #24. having a different artist each handle their own prophet clone was pretty brilliant of brandon and simon roy. it has been super fun working on it and i will keep posting more about it. If you don’t know what the hell i am talking about there are some preview images up here on this fine site with amazing colors by the spectacular joseph bergin III.

**moebius passing a few weeks ago was hard i am sure for a lot of people. I was shaken up a bit by it myself. I am not much of an expert on ANY artist really, but more than anyone else he was someone who i looked up to as having it all sort of figured out. i heard the sad news not too long after i had drawn this page

i am pretty confessional generally so i have to point out that the middle panel was more than a little inspired by a moebius panel from Moebius Comics #1 (Caliber Comics 1996) from a story called, “Destiny x3″.

of course i don’t think my drawing even comes close to moebius’ awesomeness. most of the time i feel like a big phony when it comes to being a commercial artist but i don’t think that it’s a bad thing to stand on the shoulders giants as long as you are honest about it, like my direct rip-off of big john buscema for my strange tales piece and this drawing i did not too long ago.

which was very much inspired by a drawing from moebius‘ 40 days in the desert.

i have a copy of the original printing of that book i got in Angouleme over ten years ago for my mom. it is even signed to her. aw. incidentally the above drawing is one of the prints i will be selling at the stumptown comics show. if you don’t really know much about moebius and are planning on going to the stumptown show there is a moebius panel on sunday by some cool and handsome local experts from 12-1:45pm. it is called Quenched Consciousness: A Tribute to Jean “Moebius” Giraud. Ian MacEwan who is on the panel runs an amazing tumblr by the same name. tranquility base member and image comics author Joe Keatinge is moderating the panel. if i didn’t have to sit at my table at all on sunday i would be there.

**so the wrenchies, prophet and IWAH are three of the four irons i have in the proverbial fire right now as well as a random illo here and there i still owe people. the fourth iron i am picking away at and i will keep it a secret i until i have it a little closer to completion. there is still a bunch of art i have done over the past year that needs posting including a few commissions. speaking of such things i need to say that i can’t take anymore new commissions for the foreseeable future. i really appreciate people wanting me to do drawings for them, but it is vital for me to take the rest of this year trying to get these projects finished. here is a newish wrenchies page.

**i am a loyal follower to more than a couple of podcasts but i may have just found my new favorite. two of the best guys i know jim rugg and jasen lex have their own show called, tell me something i don’t know. there are three episodes up right now and i am the guest on the second one. i love hanging out with those guys and had a blast being on their show. i figured it would be really embarrassing hearing myself babble on about my b.s. life but i only cringed once or twice when i listened to it which counts as a win from where i am sitting.

**D.I.Y. MAGIC BY ANTHONY ALVARADO. this is a good looking book and quite a fascinating read.

it came out a few weeks/ months back and i have an illustration in it. floating world comics master jason leivian put the book out. 40 b&w illustrations, cover design by Lord Breaulove Swells Whimsy First edition letterpress silver foil cover limited to 1000 copies, 176 pages, 5″ x 8″, $13.95 Shipping $5.30 US, $11 INTL, $8 CANADA

Now available to order my illo in the book is in black and white but here is a color version for you to see.

i related to the chapter being somewhat of a luddite myself.

**jason leivian  also wrote this tcj article on matt brinkman‘s super fun cave evil game.  there is me doing some hard core gaming. i think i was the first to die.

** and lastly i thought i should tell you all there are only 4 or 5 days left on sparkplug’s campaign drive. sparkplug is one of my favorite publishers. if you felt so inclined throw in some ca$h so they can keep getting their wonderful books in front of people’s eyeballs and doing keep the good work.

thanks for reading this. i hope to see you at the show or in the funny books.

i am trying to get this done before i rush out the door. i know it has been way too stinking long since the last time i have posted or updated my website, practically a whole year has gone by. dang. i am full of excuses but i am aware i am remiss in my duties as a self-promoter and that i need to be doing this more. and i would like to apologize to all the friends of mine out there and other humans that i owe artwork or an email or a real letter to (jay sacher, i loved your letter). i hope to get to it all eventually.next week i will go into more detail about everything that has happened to me since my last post but some highlights include: a bicycle accident involving an suv (i might post some pics sometime, there’s blood), moving across town again to new neighborhood, lots of projects including doing artwork for vertigo and the marvel at almost the same time, rapidly approaching the big four zero, and juggling 4 different comic book projects while trying to finish up the last few commissions i over committed myself to. i had to take a break from doing any other work until i finish those things or at least until i partially dig myself out of the pile i made for myself. i am not trying to sound whiny, i know this is the life i have chosen and i do enjoy it for the most part but it is rather solitary and at times stress filled and fueled existence. after like fifteen years of working as a cartoonist professional (whatever) i feel like i am just in the last year or so trying to figure out how to plan for the future of my career. basically i have no idea what i am doing but i feel like there is this heavy clunky machinery that i am rolling downhill and trying to steer as best i can but it often gets away from me and i have to run after it and push it hard to get it back on course, then it goes too far that way and i have to run after it again. i don’t know how effective that analogy is but it is the best one i have right now. ok, i need to work on it. but i know i am not entirely alone in this just from a few conversations i have had with other creative types around my certain age. it’s my experience too that most of us don’t really know what are doing really, just some of us are better at faking it than others. we all need to figure out for ourselves what gets us through the day i guess, being a little delusional helps.

so for now i wanted to tell you real quick about one of the projects that i am working on right now, prophet for image comics. i love what brandon graham and simon roy have been doing with the comic so far. i am nearly done with my first issue. if you like science fiction fantasy stuff (conan the barbarian in space) you can’t go wrong with this series. the above image is a cover that i drew in brandon’s apartment in vancouver bc. he colored it (i think with some help of his amazing artist wife marian churchland) and added the drawing on the bottom corner which i think bumps the while thing up a notch or four. i wasn’t too happy with my drawing before but i am digging it now.

speaking of my pal from the great white north, brandon is going to be having a release party for his book king city (which is spectacular and one of my favorite comics of all time) tonight at floating world comics. i will be there. please come on by it is just in few hours.

KING CITY TP RELEASE PARTY WITH BRANDON GRAHAM

WHO: Brandon Graham

WHAT: King City book release and signing

WHEN: Friday, Mar. 9th, 6-9pm

WHERE: Floating World Comics, 400 NW Couch St.

i have a bunch more news and stuff to tell you about but i have to run now. i will try to post again next friday. i think that might be my regular day for it since that is when my IWAH comic goes up every week.

if you don’t know yet, iwah is: it will all hurt, the loose strip i have been posting every week on the study group comics site.

more on that next week too.

and oh yeah, i did this sticker my favorite place to go in nyc, cake shop.

i think they might be doing giveaways of it at south by southwest this year. but don’t quote me on that.

here is a video for their showcase at sxsw. it is on the 14th of this month i believe.

watch video on utube

i love you guys. more to come…..

the above image is for a show my little sister is playing in next friday. check it out if you are in thy bay area. the original of this business is for sale on my etsy store too. it doesn’t have the type on it or the background for that matter. the original back ground is just the white of the card stock. this drawing was inspired by a moebius’ drawing in his sublime 40 days in the desert. i left the book at my studio or i would post a jpeg of the original drawing. see if you can tell which one it is.

**so stumptown comics fest went pretty smooth and was a lot of fun. thanks to indigo and everyone else who helped put the show on and participate in it. this was the mini i made for stumptown.

i sold out of the forty copies i made exclusively for the show. but if you want to read the thing i have been posting a spread from it almost every day on my tumblr. just four more spreads to go and the whole thing will be on-line for your potential amusement or indifference. i also sold the very last of the copies of pop gun war: chain letter 2 i had. there might still be an issue or two at floating world if you still want one otherwise you might have to wait a few years for me to finish the whole dang book.

**next weekend (May 7th and 8th) i will be at will be at tcaf in toronto, cananda!

poster by the inspiring and amazing Jillian Tamaki.

very exciting to visit another country even just for a weekend. i think it’s really cool the show is held in the library too.

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival

Saturday May 7th,9am-5pm

Sunday May 8th,11am-5pm

Toronto Reference Library

789 Yonge St.,

Toronto, Canada

416-533-9168

Admission to TCAF is Free. which is another pretty great thing. i was going to try to have another mini comic made for that show, but if i can get it together at this point it will be a miracle. i will bring some copies of diamond comics to sell though, and hopefully  prints or some other sort of cool something or other.

**and for a few more days i still have some wrenchies pages up in the showPeople’s Art of Portland at Peoples’ Gallery – Portland OR, Downtown at Pioneer Place Mall, Third Floor, Suite 4005 700 SW Fifth Avenue The mall galleries (4 of them) are in partnership with PNCA (Pacific Northwest College of Art) and are open 4 days a week.

and

**there are my pieces up at the pony club gallery downtown in the Everett station studios. 3 little watercolors of mine are up there and a bunch of great stuff in the show to see. both of these shows are up for only a few more days. and

**copies of diamond comics (#6) are available from floating world comics (#6) for $4 in case you weren’t one of lucky people who got one of the 5000 copies included as a FREE insert in the 4/14 issue of the portland mercury. i just saw that Erik Henriksen gave diamond 6 and my spiderman story in strange tales two a nice word. thanks. it seems like every time i see my work in print for the first time i find some big mistake i made. i can’t believe i didn’t notice this until i saw the flyer, but i brilliantly gave leon fireglove two right hands.

nice. yeah…maybe it will make some sort of sense within the story. i like how i didn’t notice that when i was pencilling or coloring it but it is the first thing i saw when it printed.  but it all printed great and all the comics look swell. the wraparound cover by Paul Pope is super neat. floating world is holding onto 1000 copies which will be sold at the store and through select distributors. Orders may also be placed directly by emailing jason@floatingworldcomics.com.

**this week on my etsy store i posted the last of the drawings from the book, Spiritual Teachings of the Avatar.  so if you feel like getting some cheap art please visit my etsy.

**and my pal matt hawkins is doing a kickstater. i am going to do a cover for his video game zine, so look for that soon too.

that’s it for now. be seeing you in toronto or on the world wide web.