30 Character Challenge: Day 28, 29 and 30

Name: Antoine Omar
Age: 19
Height: 6'1
Weight: 165 lbs
Location: Paris
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown

Bio: Antoine's family moved to Paris from Algeria when he was four years old. He never quite fit in as a child, but when the underground house genre called Tecktonic hit the clubs, Antoine broke out of his shell and busted some serious moves. He is now a famous club promoter from Miami to Ibiza, but still calls Paris home and lives with his parents. Thankfully, he was able to buy an upgrade from their one-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of town and get a four-bedroom condo overlooking Notre Dame cathedral.

Name: Sasha Montegna
Title: Sargent in the NMPD (New Masada Police Department)
Age: 26
Height: 5'10
Weight: 160 lbs
Location: New Masada
Hair: Blond
Eyes: Blue

Bio: Sasha was recruited to the New Masada police force straight out of high school. She has always been a very patriotic person and is honored to serve her country in this capacity. After the Uprising of 2013, she was moved out of the Capitol, Canaan, to Bethsade, the town where the insurrection began. Her dedication to the Administration and ruthless enforcement of it's laws make her a prime target of the Rebel States.

Name: Tanya Grandstaff
Title: one of the leaders of the Uprising of 2013
Age: 49 at time of death
Height: 5'6
Weight: 145 lbs
Location: was in New Masada
Hair: Dark brown
Eyes: Blue

Bio: Tanya is the mother to Chloe, the Assassin, and Xavier, Garrison of New Masada. She was one of the leaders of the Uprising of 2013, leading the rebels in many battles with the Administration. One day when she came home, her husband was waiting for her. He was with two other Garrisons, who escorted her out of the house and into the awaiting police van. She was brought to the Defense Building, where she had a hasty show trial and was executed. Her battle, and that of the other rebels, lives on. They are banding back together and growing a grassroots movement called the Rebel States. Tanya would be very proud of her daughter Chloe, who has taken up the flag of the Rebel States and is working to make her mother's dream a reality.

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Oh my God, can you believe it? We're at the end! The final curtain, the last hurrah! I've had a lot of fun working on these characters. I would love to work on a storyline for some of them, especially the ones from New Masada. This has been a great creative experience and a really worthwhile venture. Thanks for reading these posts!

30 Character Challenge: Day 26 and 27

Name: Distractinator
Age: Created sometime in the past 15 years
Height: 6'8
Weight: 320 lbs
Location: Your house, your office, your cell phone, wherever
Hair: N/A
Eyes: Pink and Blue

Bio: The Distractination sneaks up on you when you least expect it, and also when you expect it. Trying to check your email? BOOM he's there, showing you videos of otters holding hands. Reading the news? BAM why not watch a cat on a roomba? Trying to do a mail merge? WOWZA try again after 15 minutes spent watching Rihanna music videos. The only machine that can vanquish the Distractinator is WorkEthicasaurus, or a power outage.

Name: Super Pig

Age: 12
Height: 6'1 standing upright
Weight: 520 lbs
Location: USA
Hair: Red to  dusty pink
Eyes: Grey

Bio: Super Pig used to not be that super. An ordinary farm hog, Super Pig was treated with a chemically tainted growth hormone that contained traces of human DNA. He is now a barnyard superhero, fending off evil farmers with the stick they once used to herd him around.

Pigs are my favorite animal, so I had to give them some love in this challenge.

30 Character Challenge: Day 24 and 25

Name: Luis Garcia
Title: Lt. Commander of Galileo
Age: 57
Height: 5'10
Weight: 180 lbs
Location: Galileo, floating city in the Colombo Gap in the rings of Saturn
Hair: Graying brown
Eyes: Brown

Bio: Luis is the right-hand man to Linda DeKamp, Commander of Galileo. He is a great asset to the Administration, making sure that all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed. He grew up in the Asteroid Belt, and always wanted to live on one of the gas giants (no one was there yet when he was a child). He lived in Galileo for 10 years before becoming the Lt. Commander, giving him a lot of great practical knowledge of the floating city.

Name: Alpero Lex
Title: Sgt. at Galileo, Operations Division
Age: 87
Height: 7'9
Weight: 280 lbs
Location: Galileo, floating city in the Colombo Gap in the rings of Saturn
Hair: N/A
Eyes: Black

Bio: Don't let the age fool you; Alpero grew up on Mars with Linda. Martians have a much longer infancy that humans, in which they physically mature completely, before maturing psychologically. When Linda applied for a position on Galileo, Alpero did so too, just to see what happened. They ended up getting a  position as a Sargent in the Ops Division, which is just a fancy name for a handyman. Alpero loves their job, though, and is enjoying their time on Galileo (martians have always been big partiers).

30 Character Challenge: Day 22 and 23

Name: Linda DeKamp
Title: Commander of the floating city Galileo around Saturn
Age: 35
Height: 6'2
Weight: 170 lbs
Location: Colombo Gap in the rings of Saturn
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue

Bio: Linda DeKamp has been groomed for this position since she was a child. Raised on the colony on Mars, she excelled in math, physics, astro-geology and leadership skills. When the floating city orbiting Saturn, named Galileo, started operation in 2115, Linda's resume and application were on the top of the pile. Her friends tried to damper her excitement; no woman had ever been Commander of a station in the Solar Union. She became the first, and is now running the most productive floating city  in the Gas Giant region.

Name: Piers Gaveston
Position:
Age: 27
Height: 6'1
Weight: 200 lbs, 245 lbs with full armor
Location: England
Hair: Ginger
Eyes: Hazel

Bio: Piers is a fierce fighter in the English military in the early 1300s. He has seen his fair share of war, and has gained notoriety amongst his fellow infantrymen as a man without morals in the battlefield.

But mostly, I just wanted to draw someone in armor.

30 Character Challenge: Day 19, 20 and 21

Name: Chameleon
Real Name: Jason Crane
Title: Sgt. in the US Army
Age: 43
Height: 6'4
Weight: 270 lbs
Location: USA
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue

Bio: Sgt. Jason Crane was working for the Army on a new form of camouflage that would adapt to the surroundings of the soldier. He was trying to figure out how to make the clothes react to the environment, and totally failed. However, late one night in a fit of rage, wearing a uniform made in another failed material, it suddenly turned red. Crane realized that he had made a fabric that responded to his emotions and thoughts, changing color with only an abstract idea. He hasn't perfected the fabric (it only responds to him), but it has given him the opportunity to work for the US Army as the Chameleon on special covert assignments that no one else can fulfill.

Name: Star Boy
Real Name: David Storm
Age: 32
Height: 6'3
Weight: 250 lbs
Location: USA
Hair: Black
Eyes: Blue

Bio: Star Boy was the darling of the nation. Even Superman looked up to him as an idol and pillar of good in this crazy world. He stopped the Cold War single-handedly, eliminated the global mafia, and rescued his share of kittens stuck in trees. Recently, our hero burned out. Star Boy, aka David Storm, had a nervous break under the pressure of being Star Boy. He fell off of the face of the earth after his crack up on the Today Show, and has been staring at the bottom of a bottle ever since. The world is getting to be a more dangerous place since his disappearance. How much longer can earth survive without their celestial savior?

Name: the Red Ninja

Real Name: Xue Chang
Age: 25
Height: 5'6
Weight: 150 lbs
Location: USA
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown

Bio: Xue always excelled in the Martial Arts, but found her true calling once she found an old set of throwing stars at a run-down pawn shop in a strip mall outside her hometown. When she held them, she felt a surge of power running down her hands into her body, and instantly felt a bond with these deadly weapons. Her training became more serious, and she started stealing away in the night to fight crime with her stars and skills.

30 Character Challenge: Day 18

Name: Damien Jackson
Title: New Masada
Age: 62
Height: 6'0
Weight: 170 lbs
Location: New Masada
Hair: Grey
Eyes: Black

Bio: Damien is kind of a fixture around Bethsade. He's a veteran who's living comfortably enough of a pension from his time in the army. Not one to like being by himself, he usually leaves his apartment early in the morning and wanders around town, chatting up anyone who will listen and helping neighbors out with different odd-jobs. He's a pretty handy guy, and since he never charges for his services, everyone appreciates the help. The only real problem he has is that he's still struggling with his PTSD and sometimes has flashbacks, bringing him back to the old wars New Masada fought when it was just starting to come to power.

He's aware of the Rebel States, but somewhat wary of what they'll bring about. The last thing he wants is to be in the middle of another war.

30 Character Challenge: Day 16 and 17

Name: Solar Flare
Real Name: Chandra Rollins
Age: 26

Height: 5’4
Weight: 140 lbs
Location: USA
Hair: Brown

Eyes: Red

Bio: Solar Flare is an awesome super hero. She received the power to harness the sun's energy into rays that shoot from her hands. How did she get that power? Well kids, when your parents tell you to never look directly at the sun, EVEN IN A SOLAR ECLIPSE, just follow their directions. Little Chandra Rollins decided that it would be a great time to just look at it without any eye protection, and when she woke up, she was in the ICU, smoking and smelling like a ham. It took years for her to figure out how to focus and keep her heat from flaring up. Now, she has her own strength so well contained that she can bring all her heat to her hands, and shoot them out in crippling rays.

Name: Xavier Grandstaff
Title: Garrison of New Masada
Age: 51
Height: 6'0
Weight: 180 lbs
Location: New Masada
Hair: Ginger
Eyes: Hazel

Bio: Xavier is a Garrison for New Masada, and the father of Chloe, the Assassin. He frequently has to travel from their home in Bethsade to Canaan for business in the Capitol. Ever since the Uprising of 2013, things have been rocky at home with his daughter, so he really appreciates these trips out of town. He's working to move there and become a power player in the New Masada government.

30 Character Challenge: Day 15

 

Name: Hipster Batman

When I was at SPX this past fall I got the idea of hipster superheroes in my head and sketched a few. Figure this is as good an opportunity as any to make a more official looking version of it! It was a lot of fun to draw in a more old-school comic book style. Playing with all the shadows and bulging muscle lines is a lot of fun, and definitely a great change of pace from how I usually draw. It took a long while (maybe 45 minutes) to draw this picture, but it was worth it.

30 Character Challenge: Day 14

Name: Claire
Position: Messenger for the Rebel States
Age: 21

Height: 5’3
Weight: 120 lbs
Location: the Rebel States
Hair: Blond

Eyes:Blue

Bio: Claire and her old beat up Carrier bicycle play a vital role for the Rebel States. She is part-spy, part-messenger, part command center. She helps Pravda get out the GOB newspaper, and makes sure that everyone in the Rebel States is taken care of with her frequent house visits.

30 Character Challenge: Day 11, 12 and 13

Ok, so I'm a little behind (a lot behind), so here are three new, totally unrelated characters. I'm having a lot of fun working on the New Masada and Rebel States characters, but I'm going to take a break from those and try to just create some totally new people as well.

Name: Golden Bow

Real Name: Grant Archer
Age: 28

Height: 5’8
Weight: 160 lbs
Location: the Woods
Hair: Brown

Eyes:Brown

Bio: the Golden Bow is a deadly force with his trusty bow and arrow. Also an expert at hand-to-hand combat, he fights crime in the poor no man's land known only as "the Woods." As a child, Grant was always a sort of a loner and the life of the Golden Bow suits him. He gets to keep a low profile, and no one expects that the quiet cooper could possibly be the same person who brought the  Robbin' Hood gang to justice.


Side note: I was trying to play around with perspective on this one, and got it about half right. I feel really good about arms and head, but where the waist turns is a bit of a mess. Basically, I forgot about hips and gave him the smallest butt in the world. Oops.

Name: the Professor
Age: 68

Height: 5’7
Weight: 150 lbs
Location: North Hadley College
Hair: Grey

Eyes: Brown

Bio: Basically, I just wanted to draw 1) someone from the top down 2) a guy with long hair and a beard 3) a Cosby sweater. So, basically, a college professor. I think this sort of person is a good one to have in your wheelhouse. Most of my people tend to be around the same age, so it's a good excuse to try to draw an older person. The marker I used to color in his skin was running out, but I really like the texture it gives, it makes him look older!

Name: the Manarchist
Age: 22

Height: 5’11

Weight: 155 lbs
Location: Too close for comfort
Hair: Brown

Eyes: Blue

Bio: The Manarchist is that guy who needs to check his privilege at the door. He's so busy trying to be the most progressive and radical person he can be that he forgets that he is a white, straight, cisgendered dude who shops at Whole Foods and whose parents work for the government. He has all sorts of opinions, like that Nixon was the most radical president we've had (well, except for all the foreign policy stuff). He will talk you ear off, let me tell you.

Personally, I think the Occupy movement is awesome. It's just a good chance to have an anarchist complaining about themselves. I also know and enjoy the company of some anarchists, it's just that a lot of them need to check themselves before they wreck themselves. Drawing leather jackets is also fun, so it was either this or a punk.

30 Character Challenge: Day 9 and 10

Name: The Man
Age: 52 

Height: 5’8
Weight: 160 lbs
Location: Metropolis
Hair: Brown

Eyes: Grey

Bio: The Man is Mr. Establishment. He used to own a novelty and joke shop, but after the Recession, he started working as a suit. He traded in almost any sense of individuality, except for his clown flower. He's the arch-nemesis of Super Hipster, representing all things non-ironic.

Name: Jakob Longmont

Alias: Super Hipster

Age:23

Height: 5’9
Weight: 130 lbs
Location: Metropolis
Hair: Brown

Eyes: Grey

Bio: Watch out, or he'll get you with his Apathy Ray! Super Hipster is an amalgamation of comic characters: like Popeye, getting his energy from PBR and kale chips: "vitamin A and vitamin alcohol, yo." His bat-cave is the warehouse he's squatting in in Metropolis. Like the Green Lantern, his powers come from one physical source: American Spirits. Super Hipster would fight the Man, except that's too predictable. So instead, he works for him as a data analyst.

30 Character Challenge: Day 7 and 8

Two New Characters in the Rebel States

Name: Pravda
Position: Printmaker for the Rebel States
Age: 42 

Height: 5’5
Weight: 160 lbs
Location: the Rebel States
Hair: Brown

Eyes: Green

Bio: Pravda has been a printmaker all her life, but used to work for the New Masada National Paper to pay the bills. After the Uprising of 2013, she aligned herself with the Rebel States and found her niche: creating print material for the Rebel States. Since all electronic communication is closely monitored by New Masada, the Rebel States have turned back to newspapers and fliers to disseminate information. The formal paper of the Rebel States is called the GOB, standing for the "Grey, Orange and Black," the tricolor flag of the Rebel States.

Name: Christof

Position: Supporter of the Rebel States
Age:27

Height: 6'0

Weight: 180 lbs
Location: the Rebel States
Hair: Black

Eyes: Brown

Bio: Tired of living under the oppressive government of New Masada, Christof is a recent recruit to the Rebel States. He had friends who were tangentially related to the Uprising and thrown in jail, but Christof wasn't surprised; people from his side of the tracks were always being tossed in the slammer. Once the food started running low, however, he started taking notice to the institutional change of pace. He started listening more to what was going on in the underground, and caught wind of the Rebel States. Now, he a community organizer of sort, and an expert hatchet thrower when necessary.

30 Character Challenge: Day 6

Adventures in Space/Paint!

Name: Charlotte Pancer

Position: S.P.A.C.E. Enforcer
Age: 24

Height: 5'6

Weight: N/A
Location: Intergalactic DMZ

Hair: Brown
Eyes: Black

Bio: Charlotte is a top level S.P.A.C.E. Enforcer, the section of the US Army dedicated to protecting planets of national interest. Heading up a team of six Enforcers, her current mission is to make sure that the USSR (Un-Sapien Sentient Republic) hasn't sent any missions into the Intergalactic DMZ.

30 Character Challenge: Day 4 and 5

So, I'm a day late, but I have two new characters to make up for it!

Name: Jilian Tamaki

Position: Ski Patrol for COSH
Age: 27

Height: 5'6

Weight: 140 lbs
Location: Unknown

Hair: Black
Eyes: Black

Bio: Working for the super group known as COSH (Coalition of Super Humans), Jilian keeps watch over their secret bunker in Hokkaido, Japan. Although not imbued with any super powers of her own, Jilian grew up in these woods and knows them better than anyone. Her constant surveillance of the area makes sure that COSH's HQ is always protected.

Name: the Enigma

Age: 60-something

Height: 5'5

Weight: 150 lbs
Location: Secret Lair (duh, he's a bad guy!)

Hair: Brown, what's left of it
Eyes: Brown

Bio: The Enigma is your old-school villain. He got his start working for the Nazis, where he became a high-level cryptographer, creating the code used in the (in)famous Enigma machine. After the fall of Berlin, he hid away in the mountains of Austria. He is the perfect foil for all heroes: sinister laugh, Napoleon complex, and creator of diabolical puzzles.

30 Character Challenge: Day 3

Real Name: Anthony Reyes

Currently goes by: HammerHead
Age:27

Height: 6'5

Weight: 250 lbs
Location:Hawaii

Hair: N/A
Eyes: Blue

Bio: An avid surfer and adrenaline junky, Anthony Reyes was always looking for the newest rush. After drinking too many mai tais at the Tiki Torch Lounge at his home on the big island, Anthony and his friends were brainstorming where their next big trip would be to. The old guy who always lurked in the back corners of the bar had a suggestion: Bikini Atoll. He had once been a surfer, he told them, and had found the ultimate thrill there: catching massive waves, all the while surrounded by sharks. "Not like, regular sharks," he slurred. "BIG ones. Bigger then I'd ever seen." Anthony knew he had to go.

Once there, they learned the real story about the sharks, about the nuclear tests, and about the risks they were or weren't willing to take. Anthony went out alone that day, the rest of his friends too scarred to embark into the warm, turquoise water...

30 Character Challenge: Day 2

 

Name: Carter

Position: Counter Intelligence for New Masada
Age: 33

Height: 6'1

Weight: 180 lbs
Location:Canaan, the capitol of New Masada

Hair: Brown
Eyes: Hazel

Bio: An agent of the state, Carter's duty is to take out The Assassin. Only he doesn't know it yet. The power elite of Canaan are noticing a lack of good information coming through from their contacts in the Rebel States, and have sent Carter to investigate. Their spies seem to be just dropping like flies...

Glad to have an opportunity to leave his desk job behind, Carter is taking full advantage of his time outside Canaan. He's not afraid to get his hands dirty working his way into the hearts of the people and the alleyways of the Rebel States.

                                                                  

I wrote Carter, figuring every good Assassin needs a nemesis! 

30 Character Challenge: Day 1

So, clearly, I'm having some issues getting my mind together enough to work on any sort of long-term comics. Thankfully, I just found out about this sweet 30 Characters/30 Days challenge. I wasn't able to register for it on time, but decided I'm going to participate anyways. The gauntlet is just that: create 30 new characters in 30 days, one for each day in November. I'm going to post them all here, one a day.

I've been thinking of working on a super hero or otherwise more creative storyline, and I think this will really help me brainstorm for it. Yay, you get to watch me brainstorm!

Ok, first up!

Can you tell I just finished reading The Hunger Games?

Name: Chloe
Title: The Assassin
Age: 22
Height: 5’4
Weight: 140 lbs
Location: the Rebel States
Hair: Ginger
Eyes: Brown

Bio: The Rebel States is a nation within a nation. Since the Uprising of 2013, the government of New Masada imposed harsher sanctions on its citizens, 1984-style. Most of the leaders of the Uprising were executed, but those who escaped the government and the families of the dead banded together to form the Rebel States. Part black market, part social services, and part para-military, the shadow government of the Rebel States protect the citizens of New Masada.

Chloe's stake in this battle is her family. Her mother was a leader of the Uprising and was turned in by her father, a Garrison for New Masada, and executed. Like most young adults in this economically depressed country, Chloe lives at home with her father. "You know the saying: keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Like, in the bedroom next to you," she explains. Chloe is now in the employ of the Rebel States, taking out snitches, narcs, informants, and anyone else who threatens to end the people’s last hope. Living with a Garrison has its advantages; most of her targets are topics of conversation around the dinner table.

So convention season is over. Now what?

Hello hello hello there. So, lot's of things going on here.


1. Baltimore Book Festival was all right. It was pouring rain the day of the Zine Pavilion and not really anyone stopped by. The talk, however, went really well. The Pavilion was empty when I started, and then filled up to about 25 or so people. Red Emma's said they'd invite me to their shop to give an in-store talk as well, which would be a lot of fun. It was really exciting to share my process (is there no way to sound more pompous than by saying "my process?") and the history of Gay Kid with so many people.

The rain mirrored my emotions.

2. I stopped writing Office Bitch for TheNewGay. I was feeling a bit burnt out with the story and was having some issues with the overall vibe/feeling of the site. I'm going to start a weekly comic here in the next few weeks. It took a while to realize it, but no one I know really reads TNG. It's not really my scene; think HRC vs the radical queer collective that throws potluck fundraisers and you'll know what I'm talking about.

The new strip has yet to be determined, but I'm excited to figure that out and get started!

3. There are two new comics that will be started in the next month or so: Gay Kid 4 and Culver. Culver is a book I'm going to be illustrating, and is written by Matt Smith.Gay Kid 4 will be the next installment in the series, following issues on Seventeen Magazine, Fashion, and Anxiety. I'm thinking it may be about friends and/or family.

In the meanwhile, here are some doodles I've done at work while talking on the phone.

I'm working on a short comic about getting my wisdom teeth out. This is me feeling anxious. DUH.

Molly, our old beagle, in a Santa costume looking doleful.

Ok, that looks better.

MY FACE HURTS

I got my wisdom teeth out recently, which is why the interwebs have been quiet. I'll post about the Baltimore Book Fest and other things once I'm feeling up to doing more than watching nature documentaries, letting my girlfriend cook for me, and eating said food.

off of SPX, onto the Baltimore Book Fest!

So, SPX was awesome. As it always is. I met so many awesome people, like Whit Taylor, and shared a table again with the super Matt Smith, Jeremy Massie, and Desiree and Jason Pittman. Desiree broke the bank drawing awesome pictures of people as zombies, and we were all jealous.

 

But thankfully there were tons of people there, some of whom wanted to buy my comics, and ESPECIALLY the new issue of Gay Kid

photo from SPX's facebook. This is about as empty as the floor ever looked.

I made back the cost of my table (a first for SPX) and the cost of most of my printing. It was really, really heartening to have come this far from my first SPX five years ago, where I think I sold a total of about $50 worth of books. This makes it 4 for 4 shows in 2011 at making back the table: SPACE, DC Zinefest, Baltimore Comic-Con, and SPX. SPX being the most expensive, I am the most excited by it. Here's a pic of me being excited!

photo from SPX' facebook. So chatty!

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So now, onto the Baltimore Book Festival!

 I'll be talking at the Radical Bookfair Pavilion at 2:30 on Friday, and will be tabling for the duration of Friday (noon - eight, but I may have to leave early).

Come see me talk about my comics, the role comics have played in my life, and how I feel about the word "zine." It should be fun!

OHMIGOD it's almost SPX

It's like Christmas time for comics: great friends, great comic books to spend all of your money on, and great greatness. It's really so great I can't even talk straight.

Now that SPX has finally come, that means (drumroll, please!) it's time for the debut of Gay Kid 3. Pick up your hot-off-the-presses copy this weekend! And when I say "hot off the presses," I mean it. I just finished drawing this thing tonight.

The cover looks a bit more depressing than the book actually is, but I wanted to keep with the theme of magazine covers and did it in the style of an anxiety/depression one. Those tend to be kind of cheesy ("I used to enjoy looking out the windows at my children playing in the yard....now it just makes me feel like I'm in a silent movie), which is always a winning trait. They also look a little, well, you know, depressed. In terms of the actual drawing of the cover, it was fun to get to draw something in pencil shading. I don't think I've done that since a mandatory drawing class I took in college, and I forgot how good it feels to get out your 2B and 4B pencils and really go for it.

Baltimore Comic Con and Gay Kid 3 Updates

Hey there! I just got back from the Baltimore Comic-Con! It went pretty well: I made back the cost of the table (always important and my current barometer of whether a show was good or not), picked up some old Ninja Turtles comics, and met a lot of cool people, including Baby Doll from Sucker Punch and Cammy from Streefighter, proving that really everyone does love the Tales From the Suggestion Box anthology!

 

My table was between Neil King, a great cartoonist I've seen at a few shows before and who did Elvis Must Die and Forgotten Planet, and two wonderful illustrators, Tressina Bowling and Jenny Stead. I would definitely recommend checking out their work; watching Tressina draw some commissions at the show was both inspiring and intimidating (I wish I could draw like that!).

I also met Frank Cho, whose strip Liberty Meadows I loved loved loved! when it was in print. I loved it so much that when I had to do an interview for a TV project in 8th grade, I interviewed Frank Cho. I asked him if he remembered and he said "yes! wait, you're viking girl?" which means he wasn't just saying it to be nice: at the interview he drew his characters, and then my parents insisted that I draw one of mine for him, which I did, and it was a viking character I was hooked on at the time. I gave/forced upon him some issues of Gay Kid, and he gave me one of his books. Yeah, no big deal, I just traded with Frank Cho.

*                 *                 *

In other news, work on Gay Kid 3 continues plugging along. The penciling is almost done, and I'm feeling pretty good about the progress made. Here's another sneak peak at the comic so far!

Baltimore Comic-Con's Fast Approaching!

And so the east coast tour continues! And by "east coast" I mean mid-Atlantic. And by "mid-Atlantic" I mean things within an one hour radius of DC.

This Saturday and Sunday, I'll be tabling at the Baltimore Comic-Con, alongside Bill Volk. I'm super pumped for the show; I've never been to a show like this before! Stan Lee is the Guest of Honor, so the crowd will probably be a lot different than what I'm used to (shows where the only costume people are wearing are "radical vegan" or "nerd wearing Levis"). We'll see how Gay Kid goes over here. I'm making 100 copies of each issue, so hopefully people will pick it up like hotcakes. Otherwise, I'll just be super prepared for SPX.

In terms of Gay Kid #3, a premiere of SPX is still in the cards. I've penciled half of it so far, and just need to get the rest of that penciled and inked. Thankfully the outline I made is really thorough, down to the drawings and the page designs, so it shouldn't take too much longer. I'll get pictured online once I get my scanner set back up (I moved this week, so things are in boxes covering the floor)!

Backlog of Office Bitch

It's been a while since I've posted any Office Bitch strips to the blog, so here are some from the past few weeks (all of which deal with work-related things, which is a rare bout of consistency).

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DC Zinefest wrap-up

The first Zinefest in DC in the last ten years was a great hit! A huge crowd came out to support all the local zinesters/cartoonists, and there was a great vibe through the place. I sold tons of Gay Kid 1 and 2, which is always fun. Also got to talk to a lot of cool people in DC and the surrounding areas, including Carolyn Belefski of Curls Studio and Sari of the zine called Hoax. Thanks so much to everyone who came out!

Look at all these people! Photos courtesy of Matt Dembicki

It was interesting to see the cultural difference between a zine fest and a comic con: there were a few times when I would ask someone "how's the show going for you?" or "what other shows are you hitting up this fall?" and would be met with blank stares. For a lot of zinesters, "shows" refers to concerts, not to cons. 

Me talking with some attendees/friends/other Gay Kids

Thanks again to everyone who came! Check out the "Follow me in Real Life!" sidebar to see what shows I'll be at next! And no, I don't mean concerts.

Come see me at the DC Zinefest!

I'll be tabling at the DC Zinefest on Saturday! Please come by, say hi, and pick up some fresh homemade comics! Here are the deets:

July 30, 2011, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
St. Stephen's Church
1525 Newton Street NW
Washington, DC 20010

All in a day's work

I planned on spending the whole day today working on getting the final draft of Gay Kid 3 started, but unfortunately realized after already running an errand in the direction of the art store, that I had only one page of Bristol board left (which is what a do all my comics on). DUMB. So instead I penciled the first page (I also lost my Precise V7 pen, which is my favorite for inking. Today's just not coming up Katie), and then ran off the issues of Suggestion Box #6 at Kinko's. Tomorrow I hope to start doing Gay Kid 3 in earnest, the goal being to have it done by August 1, or at the absolute latest, Sept 1 so that it can premiere at SPX.

Although I wasn't as productive today as I had hoped, getting those copies done and getting this blog post up are making me feel  lot better about loosing all my art supplies, either to usage, or to idiocy. And here's some visual proof that I accomplished something: