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Also, in February, I'll have an entry in the next issue of Magic Bullet (wow, check out this super out of date site!), the free comic newspaper put out by the DC Conspiracy.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?

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.

Review in the Washington City Paper

Mike Rhode from the Washington City Paper's interview with me is up! Click here to check it out. It's mostly chatty, but he does a bit of editorializing:

"[her] Office Bitch webcomic reminds me favorably of the early days of Dykes to Watch Out For."