Thanks for coming and saying hello at MoCCA last weekend! It was a fun show. I loved being in New York, and it’s always super encouraging and energizing to meet nice people who have nice things to say.
Some of you were clearly nervous, but don’t worry! It was adorable. I get nervous sometimes too. I did not think you were weird. This is the first time in a very long time that I can confidently stamp a show as “WEIRDO-FREE.” I did not meet a single weirdo all weekend! (Until I got on the subway, of course. But that’s a different story.)
Mediocre Sketches
As I normally do, I was offering Mediocre Sketches to all and sundry. As I normally forget to do, though, this time I had the presence of mind to take some pictures!
I usually ask the sketch requester for a suggestion of what to draw — unlike other cartoonists, I don’t have easy characters to just whip out a sketch of. Most people prefer to leave the choice to me (as in the above), which is fine, but I also got some good requests!
“Octopuss in Boots”
“Elephant Chef”
“Dignified Portrait” (click for bigger)
Machine of Death
I also managed to whip up a portable Machine of Death to administer mortality predictions on the spot. Normally this sort of thing is done in a van with an autoclave and a stack of waivers and a full counseling crew on-hand, but in a pinch I made do with a piece of cardboard and a Sharpie.
Dresden Codak‘s Aaron Diaz was my dapper model for this demonstration (with thanks to Chris Hastings for the pics):
A fun sketch I did at the Long Beach Comic-Con last weekend! YOU could get some sketches just like this or slightly different or even better with a purchase of Artist Edition books (available only through November 8)!
Wow. It’s been an ingranzzible week. (Still have to make up new words to express this properly.)
Machine of Death rose to #1 on Amazon and stayed there for over twenty-four hours. We accomplished everything we set out to do. Agents, publishers, retailers, distributors, well-wishers and the press have been flooding our email inbox. I can’t stress this enough: It worked. We won!
Once we hit #1, I called an agent I’ve worked with in the past — one who’d tried to sell MOD before but just couldn’t find anyone who wanted it — and he sprung instantly into action. Doors that were once closed started positively flying open before us. Although some big publishers have now approached us about buying the rights and doing a new edition of the book, we have declined. That ship has sailed. We are the publisher.
We also realized that we had an opportunity here to gain a level. We could have struck a deal with a publisher, potentially even a lucrative one, that would have been nice in the short term and could probably have led to interesting places. But we have larger goals than just signing a book deal, and we realized we could play the long game here, not just for our benefit — but for the benefit of our friends and colleagues in webcomics as well.
And so in the last few days, using resources offered to us that previously would have been absolutely inconceivable, we have laid the groundwork for a complex but amazing publishing/distribution structure that, in the future, should hopefully allow us to get not just Machine of Death, but also allTopatoCo-published and TopatoCo-partnered books into regular bookstore/retail channels, both in the U.S. and abroad. Ryan, Matt and I are harnessing this amazing rising flood-tide to lift all the boats we can find, all the ropes we managed to grab hold of when the waters hit.
Much has yet to be settled on this front, so I will simply say it remains a carefully considered work-in-progress and I expect to make more important announcements about this in time.
And something else kind of incredible has happened as well! We didn’t know it, but apparently Tuesday was also the launch date for Glenn Beck’s new book, Broke. Our book at #1 (as well as Keith Richards’ autobiography at #2) prevented him from claiming the top spot, and so he called us out on his radio program Wednesday. Here’s the audio (about 3 minutes long), or if you like, there’s a transcription over on the MOD site.
If you don’t want to listen, here’s the executive summary: (a) His book is supposed to be #1. (b) The fact that it’s not, but ours is, is evidence of a liberal “culture of death” that is threatening to take over America and destroy everything sensible folks hold dear, a menace that can presumably only be stemmed by folks buying his book and making it #1.
Let me contextualize this for you, in the form of a parable in which all of the details are true.
A young entrepreneur, the son of a self-made immigrant small-business owner (a God-fearing Protestant who’d married a girl from a family of missionaries), had a crazy pie-in-the-sky idea. Having learned the rudiments of business by working since he was small in the family store, he struck out after his goal, investing himself into something he really believed in, inspiring both colleagues and strangers to join his cause even as “big business” slammed door after door in his face. For years he toiled long into the night, gradually growing his own small business by being as honest, kind and creative as he could manage. Ultimately, in a tremendous Rudy-like moment, he and his ragtag band of reg’lar folks — for one glorious day — accidentally made the twelfth book by the multimillionaire host of “the third-most-listened-to show in all of America” debut at #3 on one single bookseller’s list, rather than at #1.
I guess I can see his point! I am clearly the bad guy here. Part of “a culture of death” that “celebrates the things that have destroyed us.”
Now, listen. I honestly don’t begrudge Mr. Beck his book’s success. As Ryan put it, he asked his audience to buy his book, and they did! It’s the same thing we did, only his audience is bigger. His priority is selling books by any means necessary, and if we were a handy (if nonsensical) scapegoat, then that’s business. Like Ryan, I just think it’s tremendously funny that he got upset when all we did was bumble past him on our own merry way!
MOD is still under $10 on Amazon if you’re interested in joining the culture of death! I promise that every new sale is another tiny pea beneath Glenn Beck’s many mattresses.
Speaking of my own small business: as fun as all this continues to be, I really need to announce a few non-MOD events and items. For continued MOD excitement, please follow our machineofdeath.net blog (via RSS or email), or visit our new MOD Facebook page where folks are posting pictures of the books they’re starting to receive in the mail! What an exciting time for them! Because they have a big thick shiny new book to enjoy. And we’ve been gratified to see that, internet grassroots campaign or no, people really are loving the content of the book too. Hooray!
Now then:
It is not a new T-shirt, it is a sketch that I made in a book! Artist Editions are now available! (More examples here.) This is something I only do twice a year: I’ll create a custom unique sketch in any Wondermark book (or all the Wondermark books!) just for you. They won’t be available long: only through November 7. Then I’ll sit down and draw them all (when I’m at the TopatoCo HQ next week for the New England Webcomics Weekend) and they’ll ship out starting on November 8!
TopatoCo is also having a clearance sale on T-shirts this week only: through Halloween (I know, not much time, sorry, I been busy) all discontinued items start at only $15. These are shirts that won’t be reprinted, so whatever’s left in each size is all that’ll ever exist. If there’s something you want, grab it now before it’s gone for good!
Finally, all this weekend, Friday through Sunday, I’ll be at the Long Beach Comic-Con, sharing a table with good-time fun-pal Dave Kellett! Friday (today!) at 2pm we’ll be doing a panel called Webcomics Lightning Round, in which we answer all of your questions about webcomics in 20 seconds or less. I’ll also have some new posters as well as Monocle Poppers greeting and holiday cards at the booth all weekend! Booth #407.
The MOD podcast launches next week. Next week you also get five Wondermark comics because you did some stuff right. If anyone knows how to make a Kindle .mobi file please email me.UPDATE: We’re set for now! If anyone knows how to make 30 minutes of sleep seem like a week please email me. You guys are the best and I wouldn’t have this any other way.
Twice a year, I offer my books in “Artist Edition” — I create a custom unique sketch in every book, for those that desire it. Patrons of the most recent offering are well familiar with my fixation on “flying fish,” by which I mean strange hybrids of fish and aircraft (or fish and armored vechicles, or insects and aircraft, or land mammals and construction equipment). Here are some examples from this spring’s series of Artist Editions:
I will be honest with you: I have harbored furtive dreams of turning this particular subject into an oeuvre, of creating larger and ever-more-complex tableaux of sea creatures/aircraft, engaged in all sorts of aerial hijinks in glorious, full-painted color. (The sketch at the top of this post was an expression of this urge to refine and develop the theme.)
Well, thanks to diligent reader and frequent correspondent Kevin S., I have learned that apparently someone else had the same idea — Roland Tamayo:
I HEREBY DECLARE TAMAYO MY NEMESIS
…although I should point out that my inspiration, and perhaps Tamayo’s as well, was and is the surrealist vehicular work of Stan Mott:
I believe this more comprehensive collection may be Stan’s official site, but with respect, it’s miserable to navigate. However, if you have a little patience you’ll find the charming “History of Tanks” illustration series there, which I’m sure is why 90% of the sketches I’ve done at conventions in the past year have featured tanks in some fashion (usually attached to African wildlife).
Finally, consider this your official warning that the fall Artist Edition series will become available very soon! Before the moon is full! October is going to be a big month, I’m just brimming with exciting news. ALL IN GOOD TIME.
I am in Easthampton, MA at the moment, having just drawn sketches in about a hundred books! All of my books (and shirts, and prints, and pretty much everything) are shipped from the TopatoCo Command Bunker here, so once the Artist Edition orders that I’ve been crowing about were received and compiled, I swung on into The Office Of The CEO and drew strange little vignettes into everyone’s books while The Executive and I listened to folks recount their visits to Saturn on Coast to Coast AM. I shared a handful of the sketches on my Twitter as I went: the one above is among my favorites, and here are several more examples as well. We may be seeing more freakish dinosaur/tank/airplane/fish drawings in the future! These were pretty fun to do, and thanks very much to all the kind folks who ordered Artist Editions. The next opportunity to get sketched books will be in November.
If you would like to know the sorts of things that go on at TopatoHQ on a daily basis, I guest-star in a totally factual documentary account by John Allison, a well-respected subject of the Queen. In fact, I believe this tale bears the Royal Warrant. (Part 1 is at the bottom of the linked page.)
Now then! In just a few short hours I’ll be leaving the cozy confines of the Pioneer Valley for big ol’ Chicago! The Windy City! Chi-burg! Town of The Double Friendlies! The Urban Chicagopolis! Ol’ Jimmybean! I’ll be at the new C2E2 convention all weekend (with TopatoCo, booth 965), including a Friday-night panel discussion about webcomics that’s sure to be a thrill. I’ve never ever been to Chicago before, and I’m super-triple-excited to check it out and meet all the fun people who I’m sure populate its warrens! You guys have warrens, right? (I have been reading up.)
Finally — thanks to everyone who said hello at the MoCCA Festival last weekend in New York, and especial kind double-thanks to Chris and Carly, my gracious and collegial hosts. Chris if you find my jacket can you please bring it to Chicago.
I am back from San Francisco! A cheery hello to everyone I saw at WonderCon, I had a pleasant and friendly time. I think that’ll be a show I return to next year! But I will have no shortage of trips to the Bay Area this year yet. The Bay Area shall become my second home, or third office, or Ninth Gate, or Twenty-Third Skidoo. I will know this Bay Area.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) I’ll be doing a special in-store signing at Metropolis Comics in Bellflower, CA! Dave Kellett and I will be visiting from 5-8PM, signing books, shaking hands, drawing sketches, and probably solving problems. If you are in the Bellflower area, please stop by!
Then, this coming weekend, I’m in New York City for the MoCCA Art Festival! I will be exhibiting with the stellar Topato Corporation and many of my fine colleagues and friends in the comickal arts. I’m always thrilled to visit New York and this will be my only appearance in NYC this year, so please come out and say hello. Also if you’d like me to bring any prints of individual comics, it’s a new thing I’m trying out at cons! Drop me a line via email or Twitter if you have any particular requests, and I will see what I can do.
Finally, only ONE WEEK REMAINS to pre-order Artist Edition books! For this limited time, I will sketch in your books and it might look like this:
Here are some more examples of the sketches I put in Artist Edition books! Each sketch is unique and totally unpredictable.
This is a reminder that these special edition books are currently available through October 11 only, and that the opportunity will not be offered again until next spring.UPDATE: They’re done! Thanks to all who ordered. Next chance will be in April or so.
Will yours look as dapper as these (or any of these older ones)? It is impossible to say yet exciting to imagine. The books — individually or in a discounted combination pack — are available here.
A few more examples of Artist Edition drawings, which can be created on command for you, your loved ones, or any strangers you happen to feel like buying books for…
Finally, kind Marksman Doug M. sent this picture of himself and his (drawn in total ignorance) amazing-likeness sketch. If only I’d managed to peg that TERRIFYING MURDEROUS GLEAM I’d call it quite uncanny:
Get your own Artist Edition books today! (Doug-level likeness not guaranteed)
I’ve posted some how-I-make-Wondermark process videos in the past, and have more planned for the future, but I’ve recently discovered the fun of live streaming video! Tuesday’s comic was created with about twenty people watching over my proverbial Internet shoulder, chatting and giving feedback, and I had a great time talking with them, answering questions, and explaining the process as I went along.
Then, I turned on the streaming-cam again for some live sketching on Wednesday, and this time, decided to record the video as well. You can watch it below, after the jump — or here’s a link to the video for readers on feeds.
That video’s about 100 minutes of me drawing Artist Edition books and chatting with viewers — they’re typing in a chat box that I can read, and I’m responding verbally. Again, it was a lot of fun, and it kept me on-task too! (I do not really expect you to sit and watch all 100 recorded minutes, but hey, what you do on your own time is your business)
So I’ll be doing the live-stream thing, if not regularly, at least often for a while, and this time I’m giving advance notice so you can tune in if you like! (I make the show announcements on my Twitter as well.) I’ll be making the next comic this Thursday, starting at 4PM California time. To watch, just visit this handy link right here.
If you do watch, feel free to say hello in the chat to me and the other viewers! The site will give you a default chat nickname (something like “ustreamer-39878″) but you can choose your own name by typing “/nick mycoolname” (without quotes) into the chat window.
