Last Friday some fellow cartoonists (three CCS alum actually) and I had a book release party at Revolution in the Junc and it was spectacular! Big Poppa James Sturm stopped by to see us and our work.


That's me, James, Morgan Pielli, C. Frakes, and Denis St. John. We each did a reading: Don't Hate, Menstruate by me, Indestructible Universe Quarterly #2 by Morgan, Girls and Monsters:Amelia by Denis and Woman King by C. Frakes. Morgan and Denis included some cool music and there was plenty of vittles. Lots of friends and locals stopped by and I was most pumped to meet (and sell books to) Liz Canner, the director of Orgasm, Inc!


Also, Kim of Revolution was gracious enough to let us have a bookshelf in the store so anytime you are passing through White River Junction, you can pick up some great comics!! Thanks to everyone who came and Kubby for interviewing us (and making me fee like the rock star I am).

I write a little about the game and Ernie Bushmiller's greatest creation, Nancy, over at the Schulz Library blog.

My Vermont friend, Val, sent this to me. Judas on a cracker, it's amazing. I wish we had the rest of pages! If you think THIS page is good you should see the rest of the book!

Having also moved recently (read: yesterday) I can understand the need for monies and right now my friend, poisonrational of Poseur Ink, is offering great commissions and original art to make up for a shitty previous landlord. So please get with the clicky and help out! I can't wait to get mine! Hint: it's for my new roommate!

Tomorrow Robyn Chapman, Dennis Pacheco and I will head BACK to Brooklyn to table at the NYC ZineFest 2009! Robyn will have her brand new Hey 4-Eyes! #3 and Dennis will have copies of Neon Girl. I will have Menstruation Station: Menarch Aboard!, Don't Hate Menstruate, SuperGrrrl Adventure Comix (my actual zine) in addition to a brand-spanking new color Wimpy Uterus Mask for gals and ghouls of all ages! If you are also looking for information on the Center for Cartoon Studies, we will have a bit of info at our table. Hope to see you there and can't wait to be there! Did I mention this event is FREE?!?!

Jon Chad and I model....

Holy crumballs was MoCCA ever fun. I think I am finally on track and rested after that. There were so many great books, minis and people milling around that my mind almost exploded! We drove to the train station in Stratford, CT and it was about an hour after that into Manhattan. Here, my willing cohorts eat Thai food whilst avoiding the rain! (Dennis Pacheco, Robyn Chapman, Matt Young, Morgan Pielli)


We sorta nicknamed ourselves the Rainbow Table despite me screaming COLOR KIDS and Alec Longstreth's beard politely suggesting Chromophiles. I'm not sure how big the tables were last year but geez-oh-pete, three feet is hard to swing with five people's books at your table. Morgan and I still played it off all cool like, see?


We were katty-cornered to First Second so I got to gal pal with Calista Brill more and met the amazing Colleen AF Veneble. I picked up Cat Burgler Black and demanded to know who designed it. It was AF's first book and it is a beauty! Also, she had already read my newest book, Don't Hate, Menstruate before she met me so it was like being a star!


While I stayed with ol' wenching buddy, Melissa, my friend and artist of Dead Squirrel Girl, Kristin Hogan, stayed with ANOTHER wenching buddy of mine, the red-headed Eva! We ran out for sushi after the first day and caught up on life and missing Austin. Although, to be fair I didn't even register that I was in New York other than the subways. I guess the tourist part of me didn't click because I was in 'comics business' mode.


My second book, Don't Hate, Menstruate, in the orange cover actually sold out! Which made the trip home a lot easier. :) Having free tampons at the table might help but you wouldn't believe the faces some of the men make when they pick one up. I reminded them that the free tampons were sterile but if they wanted a used one, it was going to cost 'em! My menses moves mountains. Still, lots of people from either sex loved them and it was fun to see people gesticulate with them when walking around the show.


Did I mention all the HOT SWAG I traded for? Well, worry not because I will review them here in the week(s) to come!

Did I also mention that one of my stories is included in the mini-comic of Indie Spinner Rack's Awesome 2: Awesomer?!?! THERE. It has a Jeff Smith cover, with Jason Lute and Alec Longstreth as well.  A lot of great cartoonists are in it and the mini-comic is full of other CCS students: Melissa Mendes, Jose-Luis Olivares, Sam Carbaugh, Kevin Kilgore, David Yoder, Mo Oh and Dan Archer. Me looking like rube with Mr. Phil of ISR:

Just a fast heads up, I will be tabling at MoCCA , table 639, this weekend! Morgan and I are excited because we also get to see a lot of old friends. We'll stay with my friend, Melissa, a pal from my dinner theater days. Gals who wench together, stay together. And JUDAS PRIEST, I found this three year old photo of us at a Decemberists concert. I think this was when my short hair wasn't working, my Hugh Grant days.


So Morgan will have his new issue of Indestructible Universe out!!! It's a beautiful screenprinted cover and I am impressed with his continuing excellence in story-telling. I will have Don't Hate, Menstruate in book form with a swank cover which is all effectively Menstruation Station #2. Menstruation Station: Menarche Aboard will also be there and all the free tampons you can choke down! Also, Robyn Chapman was kind enough to mention me on the Schulz Library Blog for my diligence for the 24 hour comic. Mind you, I also blog at this site so it is a little embarassing BUT NOT REALLY, I love the attention. :)

Hope to see you there!

My 24 Hour Comic called Don't Hate, Menstruate is now on the web at the Grand Papier website. Please enjoy and feel free to leave comments here about it. Kubby Bear and I finished our comics at 6:30am and we were two of the three of White River Junction that actually finished! WHOOP!

 I'm about to hit the hay in preparation for Grand Papier's International 24 Hour Comic!!! There are people participating from all over the world, San Antonio, Brussels, Lyon, Beirut, the Junc! Feel free to see our pages (hopefully) upload each hour or at least listen to some music and watch us draw our brains out on the WEBCAM! My friends, Robyn Chapman, Dennis Pacheco, Liza Petruzzo, Cat Garza, Jon-Mikel Gates and Matt Aucoin will be working at the White River Junction local with me so send us your support!!! You know, via LJ comments or brain waves. :) 8am Saturday to 8am Sunday!

Recently, the Center for Cartoon Studies started a blog for the Schulz Graphic Novel Library in order to show off our amazing collection. James Sturm, Chuck Forsman and I are contributing (with more to come) and promise to illuminate pages you may never have seen before!

Phewwww, I finally caught up on sleep and uploading photos from the Maine Comics Arts Festival from this weekend. It was a hell of a time driving from the Junc three hours to Portland, Maine to hock our wares on a beautiful PIER! Ky drove all the way and made us the best marshmallowy balls I've ever stuffed whole in my mouth. Thanks to her and her cartoonist hubby, Jason Week, I had not a worry in the world driving-wise. The con had about 70 artists with a lot from SPX (Sarah Glidden, Austin English) and so many CCSers!

I ran out of SuperGrrrl Adventure Comix #1 at the beginning of the show (I should have reprinted more--that will be for MoCCA) but I still had copies of the Pterodactyl Represents Society and of course, Menstruation Station! Here is my beautiful table that I shared with Morgan and Dennis Pacheco. Rainbows and sparkly felt DO make the comics, madam.


It did not occur to me that there would be SO MANY children there picking up the free tampons and wanting to know what they were. Most of the time, a parent was nearby to honestly answer their question, New England parents rule this way! A couple girls asked for tampons for you know....emergencies....for right now, please. Hilarious! (These boys below thought the tampons were big cigars)


Right across from our table was one of the nicest and most talented cartoonists I met that day, Zack Giallongo. We talked for quite awhile about comics, kids and all that good stuff. I'm very excited to read his comics and await his supersecret project... Pictured behind us are the infamous Ky in teal and Jason Week in the yellow Jedi Jesus shirt.


And the day would not be complete without brushing butts with Lucy Knisley. She and Mark Thisse were sharing a table perpendicular to ours and their friend, Mason, fed me a damn donut when my scamwich took a ridiculously long time to show up. The four of us are pictured below:


All in all, it was a good first con for this town and so close that my heart hurts to wait a whole year for the next! Many thanks to Rick Lowell and Casablanca Comics!

Hey all! I finally decompressed after finishing my smethis called Menstruation Station: Menarche Aboard! There will be plenty of copies of this 20 page comic flying around this convention season and I'm working on issue two!! Here's a tiny preview of Menarche Aboard:

KA-BAAM! rocked labia in Cambridge as a part of BostonImprov's Geek Week 3.0! It was great hanging out with Jon, Jason and Asaf again (I missed them so much!!)

So the show works like this: 2 superhero names are pulled from the audience suggestions (excluding Super Slutters and the like), the then the actors each have about 15 minutes to create an origin story on stage. I hand over the cover I've worked on during that time and introduce the Super Villian!! Mwuhahaha.

Here is the cover from the third night and the adventure begins from my cover:


While I was there I hung out with recent Xeric award winner, Dave Kiersh. If you haven't read Dirtbags: Mallchicks & Motorbikes then head over to his radass rainbowtastic website! He's currently working on some new stationary designs and I'm excited to write letters on it (even if the price of stamps is going up AGAIN!). I also like that the ImprovBoston employee at the bar angled the camera to include their logo, intentional or not!


On Sunday, I opted to not hang out with the gang and spent most of the day drawing and exploring Cambridge, which is beautiful in many ways. Speaking of rainbows, there are not enough alleys with rainbow graffiti.


I'll let you guys know the next time there is a show! Most likely in Austin, maybe New York, HELL, let's get them to White River Junction!!!!


(Clockwise from top left: Adam Brooks [musician], Jason Vines, TC Cheevei [lucky improv audience member], Jeff Miller, Kacey Samiee, Jon Clinkenbeard, Asaf Ronen [director/editor], Jen Vaughn) More pics and VIDEO after the jump.

My good ol' improv pals from Austin are coming up to Cambridge, Massachusetts to put on a three night spectacular of KA-BAAM!! at Geek Week 3.0. Featuring a guest artist, the actors create all new superheroes a la Golden Age comic books and have you in stitches. And I will be the guest artist for all three nights! This Friday, Saturday and Sunday (April 24-26th) at Improv Boston Mainstage at 10pm for 10 bucks! If you are in the area, please come on by the show or buy your tickets online (the last time run was sold out!)

Fellow cartoonists Katherine Roy and Melissa Mendes convinced me to start a garden with them. We bought our seed starting kits and assembled them with gusto!

We planted WAY too much but will choose the vegetables to transplant soon. No less than a week went by and BAM! in your face, seedlings everywhere.

My favorites are the squash and zuchinnis because they were literally lifting an entire plane of dirt, "fuck you, soil, I want to make some chlorophyll!" Or photosynthetize, to be exact.

GROW MY BEAUTIES!

The 2009 Portland Zine Symposium is July 24th-26 this year instead of Augusty.

Fuck me in cold goose gravy.