Thanks, Infos, Travels

First off, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone who came out to the Zine Symposium and braved the musty stench to chat, browse, buy comics, and generally make my weekend totally awesome. It was a great experience and has me really excited to get going on a number of new projects. Pictures will probably materialize in the next couple weeks.

On a connected note: the Symposium was such a success that I’ve actually sold out of Baggywrinkles No. 2! I am a) mad at myself for not printing more in the first place and b) completely thrilled in spite of a. This was a completely unexpected turn of events, but rest assured I’ll be getting it reprinted as soon as I can. Orders for the single issue and the Combo Pack will stay open on PayPal, but just be aware that there will be a 2 week delay on those shipments. My sincerest apologies for that, but I’ll be out of town for the coming week and won’t be able to tackle the printing until I get back. If you’re in Portland, there are several copies still available at Reading Frenzy downtown, so if you can’t wait I’d say that’s your best bet.

In featured Portland events, I’ll be dancing as a finalist in the Portland Blues and Jazz Dance Society’s Annual Strictly Blues competition tonight at 10:30! The venue is at SE 6th and Alder in Lenora’s Ballroom. Admission is free for first-timers, there’s a lesson for newbies at 8:30, and the dancing goes until 1am! Nothin’ to lose there. The lineup is going to be fantastic and I’m utterly thrilled to be dancing with such rockstars, so come out and see us strut our stuff!

Finally, I’ll be going home to Ojai for the next week or so to get some concentrated work done on Wherefore (that autobio graphic novel project about dual citizenship and cultural identity I was going on about all the time a few months back). I’m behind on my goals, so getting out of Portland will be a good impetus to power through a lot of a pages. As a result, I’ll be off the interwebs for a bit, but rest assured, updates will resume very soon indeed!

Thanks for checking in, and I’ll see y’all in a week!

HERE IT COMES!

Hey everyone. So, in honor of my birthday (which is today), I’m releasing all my exciting news in one fell swoop. We’ve got new comics, reprints, a fan page, and a convention appearance all up in here, so read on!

First, and most importantly, Baggywrinkles #2 is FINALLY HERE!

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It’s been too long in the works, but I’m very proud to see it out in the world at last. This volume, as those of you who have been following its glacial progress here on the blog probably know, is all about traditional sailors’ tattoos. Superstitious ones, useful ones, boastful ones, all in there. Eight pages, like the last one, but this time I’ve switched it up with a BLUE cover.

Oh yes. Bold strides.

Both issues will soon be available for physical purchase in the following fine Portland establishments: Guapo Comics and Coffee, Reading Frenzy, Floating World Comics, and (hopefully) Powell’s Books!

I’m also offering a deal through the site and at the Portland Zine Symposium in August: Both issues of the comic and a bonus nautical button for 5 bucks! Saves you a dollar. Everyone likes having an extra dollar. Check out the Emporium for more info!

SECONDLY:

Tales from the Fragment has been reprinted and is ready to ship!

If you remember way back last year when I first wrote about this project, it’s a sculptural foldy comic which incorporates its hand-cut wrapper into the storytelling process. Silly meta stuff, but I had so much fun with it that I wanted to make some more to share with folks. They’re going at 5 bucks a pop to cover all the arthritis surgery I’ll need one day from going around all those tricky stalagmites with my X-acto knife.

THIRDLY:

If you’re the kind of person who likes keeping up with news via Facebook, Baggywrinkles (and, by extension, my other artistic adventures) has its own fan page! My understanding is that if you “Like” it you get sweet updates on all my comics-related doings. Hot damn!

AAAAAND FINALLY:

I’ll see you all in person at the Portland Zine Symposium on August 6th and 7th! It’s free, and there will be a ton of awesome folks there, so you really have no excuse not to come.

Thanks for sticking with me, folks. I know this isn’t the most regular of update schedules, but I’m really excited to share all this stuff with you.

Baggywrinkles #2 Inks

Hey, y’all remember when I was doing that nautical comic thing way back in the day? The one I said would be finished “in a few days” about 6 months ago? (At least, that’s what it feels like…) Well, hopefully I can make good on the promise soon, but just to prove I haven’t utterly forgotten: some inks! Half of them, even! (Easy to say when your story’s 8 pages long.)

There are technical tweaks left to be done on the blackboards, since I need to make them, well, black. But apart from that they’re pretty well finished. I’m trying to move beyond straight “line art” into something that’s a little more dimensional, so critiques are welcome. The latter 4 pages are more complex, so I’ve been procrastinating on them for some time, but the plunge will come sooner rather than later, I assure you.

Shutting up now so I can get on with the last few projects of the semester.

SO CLOSE, YOU GUYS. SO CLOSE I CAN TASTE IT.

Proof!

Heed no rumors of my demise, Internet. It’s just that glorious time of year known as “Finals,” and I have been a very busy bee. To prove that I am not just bluffing about this, and that even in the heat of papers and exams, I am still finding time for comics, here’s a very messy collection of thumbnails for Baggywrinkles Vol. 2, which will be penciled (come hell or high water) by the 13th, inked over winter break, and printed in time for Stumptown! Excitement abounds.

As time permits, I’ll also be rounding up photos of the book I illustrated, typeset, and printed this past month, featuring a poem by the insanely talented Hallie McPherson. The IPRC program has also had me hard a work on various assignments, of which there will be more evidence later.

For now, enjoy some nautical sneak peak material!

(Oh, and for those of you who care about layout and page spreads and that sort of thing, it’s worth noting that I was dumb when I started drawing this in my sketchbook and didn’t lay out the pages to reflect their appearance in the final printed pamphlet. Thus, pages 1 and 8 will appear on their own, and 2/3, 4/5, and 6/7 will be spreads.)

Less smudgy versions to follow as I get these onto Bristol!