2011 in review

Me at SPX

So 2011 was an awesome year in comics for me! I went to three new shows-- SPACE, Baltimore Comicon, and the DC Zinefest--and drew two new issues of Gay Kid and of Suggestion Box. I also spoke at the Radical Book Pavilion at the Baltimore Book Fest, which was a lot of fun. In the future I'm going to try and hit up more zinefests; the atmosphere is really laid back and friendly, there's a lot of alternative and queer stuff out there, and it's a different market than comic book people. I doubt I'll go to SPACE again, as it was a lot of travel for not a big show. I'm glad I went to the Bmore Comicon, but don't feel any huge need to go back; it wasn't a great place for a real small-press, indie cartoonist. I wanted to go to PIX again, but didn't have that weekend free. 2012, though, I want to go back!

Goodbye!

My weekly at TheNewGay, Office Bitch, stopped right before the site shut down. I was getting a little tired of the other work coming out of the site and they were in a death-spiral anyways, so I still feel like that was the right decision to make. Working on the 30 Characters in 30 Days challenge was a great inspiration to me, and I'm going to start a weekly comic based off of the New Masada/Rebel States characters. If it seems like I've been quiet on the blog front for a while, some of that is due to the brainstorming going into this comic. I don't want to just jump into it willy-nilly, and I've never done any fiction writing before, so it may be that I'm being especially cautious about it. Who knows. But stay tuned; that comic should be up and running come February!

Chloe, a character from the 30 days challenge, and the upcoming New Masada storyline

Also, in February, I'll have an entry in the next issue of Magic Bullet (wow, check out this super out of date site!), the free comic newspaper put out by the DC Conspiracy. I've never done anything with them before, and am looking forward to this opportunity to get my work out there!

So, that about does it. It was a super year, and I hope 2012 is even better! Does anyone have any advice for shows I should hit up?

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.

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!