Archived
News.
July 29, 2008
POOP SIGN! It's like a stop sign except it says 'poop'.
Poop signs are the brainchild of my friend and business partner Chris Yates, and while they've always been available at his toy store, they now have their very own home on the Web -- along with this hilarious, wonderful promotional video. POOP SIGN
July 25, 2008
I'm at Comic-Con, booth #1235! If you can't make it down to San Diego for the show, check out my epic drama-doc about last year's show, "Me Vs. Comic-Con: Who's Better?"
July 22, 2008
Two more interviews to report today. One's with Tom Spurgeon, and in it I say:
"...Comic strips were far more formative than comic books. Looking at both industries today, from the perspective of an adult in their midst, I'm utterly baffled that the two media even share a common term -- "comics." I don't think they could be more different."
Then there's the one with Geoff Hoppe, in which I say:
"Not many people know that behind the Dark Horse publishing empire there actually is a literal dark horse. He is a swarthy stallion named Morton."
Comic-Con starts tomorrow! What will I say then, safely ensconced in booth #1235? God only knows.
July 18, 2008
I like this Flickr set of iconic photographs recreated in LEGO.
July 15, 2008
Results are in from the Wondermark Semidecennial "Make-Something" Contest! Click here to see some awesome creativity. Congratulations to the winners! I'll be in touch soon to discuss your prizes.
San Diego Comic-Con's coming up, ain't it? I hadn't heard. I'll be in the webcomics section with Dayfree Press: booth 1235. 1-2-3-5. Easy to remember. Even if you just remember 1-2-3-4 it'll get you about to the right place. Come see me at 1-2-3-5 and then radiate outwards to all the other, harder-to-remember booths.
I'll also be signing at the Dark Horse booth (2615) that Saturday from 11 'til noon. But don't try to remember that number because I don't want you to get confused. 1-2-3-5. Booth 1-2-3-5. Comic-Con. Next week. San Diego. Bring dollars.
July 11, 2008
It's been confirmed! I will have Dispatches from Wondermark Manor, Volume II for sale at the San Diego Comic-Con, and I'll put it up here on the site after that (so, beginning of August). Here's a sneak peek at the cover:
Also, "Make-Something" Contest winners will be announced Tuesday!
July 8, 2008
Color strip today, just for fun. Beards of our Forefathers includes ten strips that have been colored in a similar fashion.
Here's a new audio interview I did with the website Comixology.com. It's one of the more comprehensive interviews I've done to date, talking a lot about the genesis of the strip and some of my earlier projects in addition to the familiar interview chestnuts.
I've been getting a lot of very kind emails from people who've received their copy of Beards and enjoyed it -- thanks very much! If you really dug the book, one thing that's very helpful to me is if you leave a review on its Amazon page. Let's see if we can get some reviews on there!
Brief store note: on Thursday I'm heading out of town for about 10 days, so store orders placed on the 10th through the 21st will ship out when I return. I'll try and have all orders placed through the 9th out the door before I go, but orders placed after that won't ship until I return.
July 4, 2008
I agree 100% with Meredith Gran: "Why would I celebrate my nation's independence by doing anything but nurturing my small business?"
There's audio of our Heroes Con panel discussion on webcomics up at Dollar Bin. Moderator Tom Spurgeon speaks with me, Nick Gurewitch, Chris Harding, Danielle Corsetto, and Julia Wertz.
I've made another timelapse video of me making a Wondermark strip (Tuesday's, to be precise) -- here's the link!
July 1, 2008
Three important notes about the store today:
First, I am now selling FRAMED PRINTS. These are not chintzy ready-made plastic frames you might find at the drugstore; they're custom-cut hardwood fitted with shatterproof Lucite and acid-free backing, sealed against dust and moisture, shipped ready to hang on your wall. Each print is signed and hand-assembled by me!
Second, I am now offering the option to upgrade your books to an "Artist Edition," if you'd like me to add a sketch! (Something like this or this or this, perhaps.) Regular versions will still ship with a signature by default.
Third, Beards of our Forefathers is now available for purchase! It should land in your local comics shop tomorrow, or you can pick up a signed copy from me right this second! Not exactly sure when it'll show up in bookstores, but it's gotta be soon.
A special note to the folks who pre-ordered the book on Amazon and are still waiting for it (and who may have received a note from Amazon telling them it'll be a few weeks yet) -- I wish I could send you a free gift of some sort to thank you for supporting me with the pre-order. Unfortunately, the cost of a stamp to send you a letter or gift is about half of what I earn from the Amazon sale of the book. But I do want to thank you all profoundly -- the pre-order numbers really convinced Dark Horse that this book was worth pushing, and the wonderful reviews that I've shown you already (and that we'll hopefully continue to see more of) are thanks to Dark Horse supporting the project 100%. So thank you all, very much!
Also, submissions are now closed for the Make-Something Contest -- thanks to everyone who took the time to enter! I'll announce the results as soon as I finish going through all of your wonderful creations.
June 27, 2008
The deadline for the Wondermark Semidecennial Make-Something Contest draws near! All entries must be received by Monday night, 11:59 PM Pacific Time. If you haven't started, there's still a full weekend for you to get crackin'! I'm giving away over $400 worth of prizes. Details are here!
Also: another kind review of Beards of our Forefathers! I guess the ones who hate it don't bother to tell me about it. UM ER I MEAN EVERYBODY LOVES IT
June 24, 2008
Some more reviews have come out for Beards of our Forefathers! Here's one at Ain't it Cool News, and here's one on Pulp Secret. The book goes on sale next week guys! I am so excited
June 20, 2008
Heroes Con today through Sunday! I'll have the new book, but I may sell out by the end of the weekend. See you there!
June 17, 2008
This weekend I'll be with the Perry Bible Fellowship's Nick Gurewitch at Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina! Maybe Nick will let me take money for punching him the way Randall did.
June 13, 2008
Some great announcements today about new products in the store! First, banded print sets -- these are collections of individual comic prints, organized by theme and bound together like stacks of dollar bills, which I think makes for a snazzy presentation. Each set contains 13 comic prints and sells for $12 (or all three sets for $30). The sets are entitled 'We All Have Problems', 'We All Have Problems at Work' and 'Even Animals Have Problems'. Savvy readers will be able to guess the themes. Check 'em out!
Also, Expendable DVDs have now been joined by patches and DVD/patch/poster collector sets! The DVDs have come down in price by a couple bucks as well. I hate to say it, but increased U.S. postal rates are probably going to spell some price shifting in the store soon, so if you've had your eye on something in particular, I'd recommend picking it up now. (Beards of our Forefathers doesn't go on sale until July 1st, but its price won't increase.) Ladies' shirts are also still on clearance.
Finally, I just bought a longboard, and I am somewhat less than an expert at riding it. Won't you give me some tips on the new messageboard?
June 10, 2008
I am back from New York, and boy did people love the book. There is nothing better than having total strangers, utterly unfamiliar with Wondermark, pick up a copy of Beards of our Forefathers and say, "Wow, this is beautiful." I'm super-happy to have the pride I have in the book validated. The next chance for you to pick up a copy will be at Heroes Con in Charlotte, June 20-22.
New item: Print sets are going on sale later this week! Check back, say,Wednesday Friday.
June 6, 2008
I'm in New York for the MoCCA Art Festival and Staten Island Film Festival! I spent fifteen solid hours yesterday being transported by car, plane, train, bus, van, and my own two legs. Hello, New York -- I love your public transportation system but does it really have to take so long to get anywhere? (It would also help if I could read maps correctly.)
I have a new messageboard/forum! On it you can see a sneak peek of some of the things I'll have at the show this weekend. Hopefully it will be a lively source of discussion and a minimal source of sadness. We shall see!
June 3, 2008
This weekend I'll be in New York for the MoCCA Art Festival! MoCCA is one of my favorite shows, and this year Randall Munroe will be joining me and Yates. I'll have my new book, Yates will have his new book, Randall will have the charisma that he brings with him everywhere, and if you don't care about any of us, there's plenty of other great guests for you to get excited about. If you're anywhere at all near New York City, you must attend!
In addition, I'll be on Staten Island Friday night for a screening of Expendable at the Staten Island Film Festival. If you're in the area, come on by! It'll also be playing this weekend at Soonercon, in Oklahoma City.
Also, a detail to point out: the book in the photo last week is in fact the very first copy ever, and will be the exact copy going to a lucky contest winner!
May 30, 2008
Guys check it out !!
These are advance copies. I'm planning to have sale copies at my next couple of shows. You can still pre-order on Amazon (to save a few bucks), or wait for them to show up here on the site in about a month.
May 27, 2008
This upcoming Sunday, June 1st, Dave Kellett and I will be appearing at Book Expo America, signing books from 2-4pm as guests of Bill & Gene from Unshelved. (They're in the event program and directory; Dave & I are not.) BEA is a terrifically expensive industry tradeshow, so I don't expect you'll come out just to see me, but if you happen to be going anyway, please stop by! I'm expecting the very first advance copies of Beards of our Forefathers this week, and I hope to have them at the show.
May 23, 2008
Links to thinks you can read and/or watch! First is an advance review of my upcoming book Beards of our Forefathers, which a lucky contest winner will receive the very first copy of. Second is a trailer for the film that my friend Mike Mohan is making; I didn't edit this trailer, but I am quite looking forward to the film!
May 20, 2008
Two action items today! First: I am having a spring cleaning T-shirt sale on all ladies' items (and selected XS/S unisex items, which might as well be ladies' items). All ladies' shirts are only $12, or 3 for $32 (plus shipping). In other words, I am selling high-quality, American-made apparel for $11.89 Canadian, ?7.73 in Euros, or £6.16 pounds! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, FOREIGNERS
Second action item: if you liked my movie Expendable (which picked up an award for Best Narrative Short at the Tallahassee Film Festival over the weekend), please visit: myspace.com/nowfilmfest and vote! This is an "audience choice award" situation for an online film festival -- I'd never direct you to MySpace if it wasn't important. Thanks!
May 16, 2008
So I have a Twitter now. So far I've only used it for cracking wise and occasionally complaining about junk, but as far as I can tell that's what it's for, so there you go. Over time I'll probably start making special announcements via Twitter, about things like bonus comics or limited edition merch, so if you're interested in that then it'd probably be wise to tune in...but for the moment it's mainly cracking wise and complaining.
Also, I've had this link hanging out in a browser tab for far too long; time to post it! Just goes to show what you can accomplish with free time.
May 13, 2008
The convention in Seattle was great! Thanks to everyone who came and said hello. Seattle is, according to my site stats, the city with the most Wondermark.com fans -- edging out even cities like New York and San Francisco where Wondermark is on newsstands in the Onion. Anyway there were happy rainbow flowers in the convention center and the sun knelt down to gently kiss the Earth whilst spewing candy-canes from its breast and Santa Claus blessed us all with lameness-repellent made from the magical musk of regurgitated reindeer-snot and all was peaceful for all mankind throughout the Galactic Federation.
Well, okay, it wasn't that good. But I had fun.
Hey, remember that I have a contest going on? Just didn't want you to forget, is all.
May 9, 2008
I was informed by Marksman Owen J. this week that my "Why Study?" downloadable educational poster for schools could, with a slight modification, reach an even wider audience with my message of 'alternative productivity':
Click to download a print-res version.
Other news: I am in Seattle this weekend at the Emerald City Comic Con! This is my first show ever in Seattle and I'm very excited. All reports indicate that it'll be a huge show, and I'm looking forward to meeting lots of new people and hopefully making some new fans. Hope to see you there!
May 5, 2008
I was on the UCLA campus yesterday, and everybody was just bustling about hither and yon, all wrapped up in the end of the semester. It got me thinking...what if there were something I could do to make their burdens seem a little lighter, to make each weary day a little brighter? But, it seems, there is:
I'm on a plane to Seattle tomorrow (for the Emerald City Comic Con this weekend! See you there!) so I won't have a chance to paper any campuses with these flyers. But you certainly can! Here's an 8.5" x 11" flyer for you to print out, make many copies of, and display, if you wish, on your campus! Bringing joy to your fellow suffering students can be your good deed for the term -- I'd award you extra credit if I could. (Remember to snip the pull-off tabs with scissors in the grand guitar-lessons-flyer tradition!)
you can also send me pictures or put them on facebook if you like
May 2, 2008
At any given time I have about four to six new products for the Wondermark Store in various stages of completion. Occasionally I'll have one or two ready for launch, but I'll hold off making an announcement until I can announce several other things all at once -- the logic being, that way I spend less time overall harping to you about the store and merchandise. The downside is that if some things end up taking really long to complete, earlier products end up languishing un-announced, sitting in boxes in my house instead of being sold.
In an attempt to solve this problem, I'm going to start announcing "Featured Item(s) of the Month." This establishes a system for rolling out new products on a regular basis. Because I know that's what you've been clamoring for.
The inaugural Featured Item for May is the Expendable DVD! (If you haven't seen the movie I released earlier this year, you can watch it on YouTube here.) The DVD version of the film looks and sounds great, and the disc also includes over 30 minutes of bonus features including deleted scenes, A.R.A.C.H.N.I.D. promotional videos (some of which are previously unreleased), and footage from an early test shoot. I should also mention that these DVDs are FREE to film-industry types or financial types that might move us an inch or two closer to our ultimate goal of making a feature film -- but to everyone else, they're a great way to help support this independent project. All revenue goes towards reimbursing our production costs. Click here or on the picture!
April 29, 2008
Thanks to everyone who came and said hello at Stumptown! This year was the most fun yet, thanks to the friendliness and encouragement of the Portland fan community. Yates and I stayed with The Diaz and hung out with wonderful comickers Meredith, Kate, B., and Nick of the East Coast, the Great North, Parts Unknown, and his own brain respectively. Also in evidence: the idea hat and, of course, the robot. When Nick says "let's build a robot" the night before he's due to give a talk, well by God we're building a robot.
Also, a reminder: the original-art eBay auction ends today!
And finally, feel free to click on the following if you like a little competition in your life:
April 25, 2008
The Stumptown Comics Fest is in Portland, Oregon this weekend! I can't wait to meet you there!
The eBay auction of original Wondermark art is going strong so far! Thanks to everyone for the support!
Oh, and how about this -- I am a guest voice in this week's New York Times "The Ethicist" podcast! (4/24/08)
that sound you just heard is your neck snapping from the topic whiplash
also: today's the fifth anniversary of Wondermark. Last week I mentioned a contest. Further details on that will be forthcoming next week.
April 22, 2008
Fun thing #1: I have a guest strip up at Sheldon today! Because Dave Kellett and his wife had a baby. Isn't that special. Okay, I will concede that in this case it's pretty awesome, because Dave is about the rockingest guy I know, and he has so much love and goodwill in his heart that I know he's gonna make the arcade-game top-scores-list of Best Dads Ever. Seriously, among all the dads all throughout history (or at least since the machine was last unplugged), he will totally be up there. Congrats Dave and Gloria!
Fun thing #2: In the grand Kellettian tradition, I am offering a piece of original comic art for sale! It's strip #395, the only Wondermark I've ever hand-drawn. The auction's live now, and it's a great chance to own a unique piece of Wondermark as well as help support me and this site.
Fun thing #3: I am in Portland, Oregon this weekend, with Nick Gurewitch, Aaron Diaz, Birthday Boy and other people you love! Come and say hello!
April 18, 2008
This is regular comic #400! That's pretty neat! But even MORE neat is that next Friday, April 25th, will be the FIFTH ANNIVERSARY of Wondermark. Five years! Of doing this! You'd think I'd have more than 400 comics by now. Well, I don't.
To commemorate the occasion, I'm announcing a contest. I'll post the full rules and rigmarole next Friday, but the gist of it is something like this.
Around 1997, Wizard magazine ran a contest in partnership with the comics publisher Top Cow. They asked fans to create something to demonstrate their affinity for Top Cow. I remember that a "Witchblade opera" was one of the suggestions. But there were really no rules as to what it could be -- just something, anything at all, that said "I love Top Cow."
My friend Stephen and I decided to make a movie. It was called Moo: The Bovine Pursuit, and I'm sad to say that I don't think I have a complete copy of it anymore. (I do have this version, which lacks the snazzy oscillating-fan-blowing-pages-of-a-comic-book title sequence and the overdubbed Final Fantasy III musical score.) It was the first time I tried any sort of video editing; Stephen and I spent an afternoon doing the whole record-pause-rewind-play-unpause technique familiar to anyone creative of our generation.
And we won third prize in the contest.
A national contest, and we won third prize. The reward was a stack of signed comics and trading cards, and I remember divvying them up with Stephen. We were so excited that our goofy little thing that we worked hard on actually won a prize.
Today, I want you to have just as much fun as we did eleven years ago. If you like Wondermark, I want you to make something. Doesn't have to be a video; doesn't have to be anything in particular. But I want you to be creative, and to have fun. That's the only guideline.
The deadline for submissions is July 1st. I'll give out several prizes which I'll list in detail next Friday, but they'll include original art, comic prints, and for one lucky fan, the very first copy of Beards of our Forefathers to come off the press.
More details about how to submit, etc. will follow next week. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
Other news: next Tuesday I'll be auctioning off the original art from the hand-drawn April Fool's comic; if you're interested in bidding, watch for that next week. I'll start the bid at 99¢ and wherever it goes, it goes.
Also, this weekend Expendable plays in Lake Forest, Illinois and Muskogee, Oklahoma! At this point it's actually playing almost every weekend somewhere in the country, but I forget to mention it a lot.
April 15, 2008
My friend Mike Mohan is making a feature film! Also, big news coming up on Friday.
April 11, 2008
Alan Shih from RagingCheetah.com has published an interview with me conducted at the Wizard World show last month. I'm trying to get better at giving different answers in interviews, because I know diehard Wonder Women and Marksmen* aren't really interested in reading the same old things over and over, but it's not always easy on the convention floor when all day long I am giving an identical pitch to everyone who approaches the table.
From now on though I insist that all interviews with me be run through Babelfish half a dozen times prior to publication, and any errors that creep into the text as it flounders through six languages and back will become official Wondermark canon.
* get it
April 8, 2008
Hey did you check out my 8-page Wondermark story in Dark Horse Presents? Yes? Well, thanks! I hope you liked it.
April 4, 2008
Was I lying on Tuesday? Possibly. Was it all a grand April Fool's gag that everyone took as a lighthearted jest? Judging from the many heartfelt emails, perhaps not. Thank you for the kind support, everyone! Back to Victorian engravings we go.
Here's something that will make it up to you: the online anthology Dark Horse Presents has just published an original 8-page Wondermark story! A spiritual successor to my print-only comic book Treachery!, the new story is entitled Ransom!, and was a ton of fun to make. It contains Victorian engravings aplenty, people who emailed me
Also! On Tuesday I pointed you to the Legend of Zelda movie trailer at IGN. Now that it's been revealed as a gag, IGN has posted a behind-the-scenes making-of video featuring a face that strikes me as familiar... who could that lovely makeup artist be?
April 1, 2008
Guys I'm giving up the Victorian-engravings shtick and will just be hand-drawing all my comics from now on.
Also if you like video games even a little bit then you should really, really check this out.
March 28, 2008
This Sunday, at the Digital Video & High Definition Film Festival, Expendable will have its only free, big-screen screening in Los Angeles for the foreseeable future -- and we've also been nominated for Best Comedy Short! I'll be at the screening on Sunday if anybody would like to say hello.
March 25, 2008
Here is some press coverage about my upcoming book, Beards of our Forefathers: an article at Publishers Weekly, another at some other site, and the official Dark Horse press release.
Also, to answer some readers' questions about the book: I'm encouraging Amazon pre-orders now, but I will also have signed copies available for purchase directly from my store once it comes out in the summer. Anyone who buys the book via Amazon or their local bookstore will also be able to, if they like, send me their copy for signature/personalization.
While I'm posting articles, here's another (very favorable) review of a short story I had featured in Pseudopod recently. The mention of my story, "Fever," is near the bottom of the page.
March 21, 2008
A podcast called "Half Hour Wasted" interviewed me at the STAPLE! show a few weeks ago! Here's the episode -- the bit with me starts at 24:50. I don't say much that's news to the dedicated Wondermark fan ("Wonderian"? "Marker"? "Marki"?); I should really start making up wildly divergent answers to interview questions in the future.
Special note to Los Angeles-area fans: Anyone work in a cube farm where I might be able to bring in a film crew to shoot a scene next Saturday? Email me!
March 18, 2008
It was great to see the folks that came out to Wizard World! If you picked up a flyer and are here seeing what the fuss is about, here's a good overview.
The long-awaited How to Make Webcomics book from the Halfpixel guys is finally out! I got my copy yesterday and it's a chunky brick o' love: equally pressed, condensed wood pulp AND pressed, condensed comics brilliance. It's available from Dave, Kris, Brad, or Scott, and since they split the profits you can just pick the dude closest to you: L.A., Texas, Philly or Cairo.
March 14, 2008
A reminder that I'm at Wizard World L.A. today and through the weekend; my hometown appearances have thus far been lackluster in terms of attendance, so let's see what we can do about that, if we can.
Also: this is killer.
March 11, 2008
Perhaps you remember this video about the making of this comic? Well, here's another video showing the process of making today's comic! Today's comic is basically a collage; it's a complex image created from disparate elements, whereas the first video was about a comic that was much more simple visually -- so I thought it would be neat to show the contrasting technique.
Also: I'm at Wizard World Los Angeles this weekend with Keith Knight, Dave Kellett,and Brad Guigar! Come and say hello! I really have no idea if this show will be rad or if it will suck, so, here's hoping.
March 7, 2008
If you missed the most-excellent panel discussion at STAPLE! last weekend, you can sit in your room and cry, or you can watch the video! Either way. (There are a couple of swearies in it, I guess I should warn you. But not many.)
I'm screening Expendable today in Ogden, Utah at the Foursite Film Festival. Everyone in Utah is nice, and upon learning that I'm from Los Angeles, they inevitably tell me that "it's a lot colder here than in L.A.!" YES THANK YOU I NOTICED
Oh No Robot search is back, after a prolonged absence! That means that most of the recent comics in the archive have "Transcribe this comic" buttons. You know what to do! Or, maybe you don't. Either way.
March 4, 2008
STAPLE! was a blast last weekend. It was a tremendous way to kick off this year's convention season -- the whole experience had me so brimming with excitement that I actually had to be hosed down by TSA before they'd let me on the plane home. "Sorry, sir," they said. "You look a little too jazzed about comics to be safe in a pressurized environment." I tried to argue, but in truth the hose thing was sort of fun too, and I gotta get my kicks for free when opportunities like that arise.
I know I've recently mentioned Danielle, Kris and Scott -- with whom I have formed the rock-star group The Awesome Webcomic Panelists Who Can Thrill An Eager And Not Altogether Discerning Crowd Indefinitely -- but not only did I thoroughly enjoy every minute that we hung out, I have an incredible respect for their craft. Events like STAPLE! always rejuvenate my artistic spirit, and I was stoked that between sketchbooks and barbecue-restaurant tablecloths and even public displays, I got to spend the weekend drawing.
The March Previews is out now -- if you're not enough of a comics nerd to know what Previews is, then you don't need to keep reading; I commend you for, you know, having a life. If you are a comics nerd, though, and you want to buy my new book Beards of our Forefathers through your local comics shop (or ask the shop to buy a few copies for the shelf), you can either look on page 41 of the March Previews or print out your own page 41 and slap it on the counter. (Here's an alternate version as well that may go easier on your printer ink.) When the clerk asks why you want him to buy 500 copies of a single book for his store, all you have to do is simply place one hand on his shoulder, bow your head, and say "I don't necessarily want you to go bankrupt, but if that's what it takes, that's what it takes."
February 29, 2008
COOL STUFF RUNDOWN:
This Saturday I'll be in Austin for STAPLE! and I will be having a GREAT time. Maybe YOU will be too?
Then, Expendable screens Sunday in Beverly Hills! I won't be there but...maybe YOU will be?
THEN, on Friday March 7th I will be in Ogden, Utah with Expendable at the Foursite Film Festival. This one you probably won't be at. But it would be really amazing if you were to surprise me and show up! I will ask, "Boy, you've done a lot of traveling this week, haven't you?" and you will probably just give me a hug.
Oh wait that was IN MY DREAMS
February 26, 2008
New comics every day this week through Friday! Then, Saturday, I'll be exhibiting at the STAPLE! show in Austin, Texas, and I'll be on a webcomics panel with Kris Straub, Danielle Corsetto, and Scott Kurtz. Methinks someone got the wrong idea about how competent I am at this gig.
February 21, 2008
Here's something I should remind everyone of: if you use Firefox, and when you mouseover the comics the pop-up text window is truncated or cut off, that's something that can be fixed with either this or this plug-in! I've heard rumors that this annoying bug will be fixed in Firefox 3, but it's been an outstanding issue for years and years that the Firefox dev team seems to at this point be spitefully ignoring because they hate freedom. Anyway these plug-ins will work on any image that uses mouseover text, which means that you can also now properly enjoy graphs, excitement, multiculturalism, despair, etc., etc.
February 19, 2008
What's this?
It's my new book! This 96-page hardcover will be hitting bookstore shelves in June, courtesy of Dark Horse Comics. It picks up where The Annotated Wondermark left off, and includes 131 comic strips (including many that have never appeared on this site) as well as Treachery!. I've also written loads of fun extra material especially for this collection, including a Dispatches from Wondermark Manor prologue chapter.
And the best part is...it's available on Amazon now for pre-order!
The last few weeks have been a bit of an education in publishing for me. Typically, the way I've sold books in the past is: 1. I design the books. 2. I print the books. 3. I sell the books to you. This model has worked well for me so far, but for the new book, I'm having to change tactics.
The revised model goes like this: 1. I design the book (done). 2. You pre-order the book. 3. Dark Horse looks at those pre-order numbers, and decides how many books to print and how much of a promotional effort the book deserves. 4. The book is a resounding success, and Dark Horse and I go on to make more books -OR- the book does poorly and I go back to the previous model of bookselling.
In other words, pre-orders are extremely important. In addition to encouraging individual sales, I'll be urging as many bookstores and comic stores as I can to order copies for the shelf. You can do the same in your area! The book will be solicited in the June Previews (which comic stores will receive next month), and it's already in the Dark Horse Summer Catalog, which bookstores should have a copy of. The ISBN is 978-1593079840.
Another new way that you can help support Wondermark is by making general Amazon purchases via my site, like so:
Anything you buy on Amazon after clicking through from Wondermark earns me a commission, and it doesn't cost you an extra penny! I see it sort of as a tip jar. Feel free to use my site as a portal for your general Amazon searching -- or, if you think I'm being crass, then don't! That's fine too.
February 14, 2008
Early comic this week, folks, so you can have this lovely nondenominational Valentine thing for your FaceSpace &c.
Expendable screens in Hollywood tomorrow, and we'll be in attendance with DVDs! Details here.
I'll have a pretty exciting announcement coming up soon, but I can't resist giving you just the tiniest hint: "Amazon."
February 12, 2008
If you like to laugh, and you're not put off by buckets and buckets of profanity, check out the "David Blaine: Street Magic" videos here. These guys are actors at the Groundlings theater -- watch all three Blaine spoofs in order for maximal hilarity.
If you don't get what they're spoofing, here's a real David Blaine video. CAUTION DOUCHE AHEAD
February 8, 2008
What if Hollywood was run by the comic industry, instead of by movies? If Marvel and DC were the big guns instead of Fox, Paramount and the like, and if starry-eyed youngsters moved to the city to audition for issues instead of episodes? Such is the world of Kevin McShane's Toupydoops. It's a great premise that Kevin pulls off pitch-perfectly, with clean artwork and sharp wit. Check it out!
February 5, 2008
My movie Expendable will be screening at several film festivals over the coming weeks and months -- an ever-growing list of venues has been posted at the official film site. This coming weekend it'll be in both Seattle, WA and Antioch, CA; if you're interested in seeing the film on the big screen, or bringing friends to see it, this is your chance! Later in February it'll be here in L.A. a few times, then in Utah, Florida, and Oregon after that.
Time's growing short for Valentine's Day orders -- I can't guarantee delivery by the 14th anymore, but you may still have a decent chance if you order soon.
February 1, 2008
It's February! I am coming up on a full year of non-full-time employment. I haven't had an actual "job," like with holidays and health insurance and stuff, for about two years now, but I had a pretty regular freelance gig for most of 2006 and the first few months of 2007. When that ended, I started flying without a net, and it's been scary, rewarding, frustrating and exhilarating in about equal measure.
Nearly a year on, I'm finding myself turning down work-for-hire gigs more and more often so I can have time to focus on the comic and other personal projects. Like Tuesday's comic expressed (in a fashion), I don't want to waste or give away any more of my own personal calendar-squares than I have to. Often that means that I walk away from decent paychecks or even potential career opportunities -- but in doing so, I've realized with growing clarity how important it is to spend my finite energy in pursuit of my own goals, rather than those of an advertising agency, movie studio, or corporate client.
This transition has only been possible because of your generous support. Thank you so much for reading the comic, for blogging about it and spreading the word, for buying from the store and for offering a kind word at conventions. You are the reason I do this and why I'm thrilled to be working very hard on new, exciting directions for not only Wondermark, but the greater Wondermark Enterprises brand. Thank you all for your continued kindness -- I couldn't, and wouldn't, do it without you.
January 29, 2008
Kate Beaton is a comic artist with a beautifully breezy pen style that communicates gesture and expression as well as any comic I've seen recently. All of her comics are really endearing, but I particularly love her wonderfully witty series about historical figures such as Benedict Arnold and Genghis Khan. Kate I dig it please keep it up.
January 25, 2008
The big news is that my movie Expendable is finally finished, and you can watch it right here. There's also an interview with me about the film here, where I discuss the process a bit. I really am very proud of the film, and to those who've watched it and enjoyed it already, thank you very much for the kind comments. It's been a lengthy labor of love, and I'm indebted to the fine folks who've helped me along the way, including the peerless Kris Straub and Dave Kellett (contributing original music and voice talent, respectively) as well as hardy fans Pete, Badger, Nato and Annabel, who showed up on set and worked like they were getting paid.
The reason for making a film of this scale and complexity is that my co-writer, Todd, and I are hoping to generate enough interest in the property to make a full, feature-length version. So I'd like to ask that if you've enjoyed Expendable, if you'd please blog about it, or send the link to a friend, or perhaps pick up a DVD in a few weeks when they become available. All these things help the process immensely -- it only takes one single viewing by the right person to set unpredictable wheels in motion.
New Valentine cards are still available, and I'd order sooner rather than later to increase the odds of pre-Feb. 14th delivery.
And, so far we've had quite a few responses to the offer of free Wondermark comics in your school paper! There's details here if you missed the info, and remember, even if you're not on staff at the paper yourself, you can always forward my offer to the editor. (Please be pleasant when you do!) Welcome, new readers in Florida, Arizona, Kentucky, Quebec, Ontario, New York state, Washington state, Irvine, and New Zealand! You probably will not see this message because it is online.
January 22, 2008
As far as I've been informed, tomorrow's the day when my movie Expendable premieres online! I'm currently working on getting the DVD ready for the film's theatrical (festival) premiere in February -- take a peek at the cover, won't you? I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.
Also, Valentine's Day is coming up, isn't it? I've got two brand-new Valentine card designs now for sale in the store...because I love you.
January 18, 2008
After Tuesday's strip, a reader informed me of a product called BUG, which is apparently exactly what the character in the comic pined for -- a modular, expandable, programmable personal device with wireless Internet built-in and a bevy of attachments available, from cameras to GPS trackers to LCD screens. It's a start, but truth be told, what I really want is a Swiss Army phone with a tape measure all spooled up inside ready for me to occasionally need it. I am pretty easy to please.
Also here's a new Expendable promo -- this one's another of the "henchman corporate training" type:
January 15, 2008
The Now Film Festival has elected to postpone my film's release for one week, to better take advantage of some publicity opportunities. So it'll premiere on January 23rd. My apologies, but it's out of my hands.
I figure it's time to clarify my policy on re-posting/embedding/hotlinking/inlining my comics on your blog, LiveBook, FaceSpace, etc.: I don't mind it at all! As long as you don't edit the image, and you provide a link back to wondermark.com, you hereby have my permission to post my images elsewhere on the web.
There's also a Facebook group for Wondermark. I'm sort of relying on you guys to provide, like, content or whatever for it, as I'm still a bit unclear on the concept. But there it is! My policy on Facebook friends has had to become "only people I actually know in person," though, otherwise it just gets too unwieldy for me. (Don't worry, you're not missing out on anything -- I don't post much anyway.) But do join the group!
P.S. One other thing I forgot...I'm trying to figure out the best way to have a 100kg package shipped from the UK to California. So far I haven't found any method that costs less than £300. It is possible to break it into smaller shipments, but I'm not sure if that helps the cost. Anyone have any bright ideas? Email me!
January 11, 2008
At SPX this year I contributed to a ten-foot-long scroll-shaped jam comic shepherded by a dude named John McNamee. It doesn't make a ton of sense, but it was fun to draw stupid pictures!
My offer to schools still stands: Free Wondermark comics in your campus newspaper! See my previous post for details.
Also, my movie Expendable will premiere online next Wednesday! ARE YOU EXCITED BECAUSE I AM EXCITED
Lastly: only 6 calendars left!
January 8, 2008
School's back in session, right? I don't even know. Kids, once you graduate and your life is freed of the time-markers of the scholastic calendar -- semesters, finals, summers -- years start buzzing by in a blur. So, you should want to make your school-days drag by as sloooowly as possible. Well, now I can help, by filling your school newspaper with lowbrow comics! Since time flies when you're having fun, that is.
For the first time, I'm offering a full semester of weekly Wondermarks to your school paper for free! Here is all that has to happen for you to start seeing Wondermark on your campus before you can say jack-sprinkletoes. The editor (or AN editor) of the paper should email me the following information:
1. Who you are and what school you're from
2. How many weeks worth of comics' you'd need (i.e. how long is your semester)
3. Name and contact info of a faculty advisor
4. Favorite mammal and why
If you ARE the faculty advisor, you can leave out the third part. And that's it! I'll write back and we'll go from there. All I ask is that the comics be printed with the header and wondermark.com URL intact, and you can have comics in your paper for free. If you would like this to happen, but are not an editor of your school newspaper, you should politely inform someone who is.
I am especially hopeful that someone from a foreign nation might like to put Wondermark in their paper in a different language! You'll have to do the translating, but I would very much like to see it when you're done.
p.s. only 9 calendars remain!
p.p.s. if the mammal thing is a deal-breaker with your crusty old faculty advisor then don't worry about it. but geez lighten up seriously
January 4, 2008
I should mention that there are still, as of this moment, 26 calendars remaining of the hundred that we made. Number 100 is extra-special and is signed by both me AND my wife Nikki. Don't worry that the year's already started -- I have it on good authority that any days in 2008 that you miss having your Wondermark calendar to consult, you can cut out and paste back in for extra days at the end of the year.
And if you're just too low on cash, why not consider a job at A.R.A.C.H.N.I.D.? They'll take pretty much anybody:
(p.s. if you worked on the movie please verify the spelling of your name before we finalize the credits. Thanks!)
January 1, 2008
Justin Pierce, the author of one of my favorite comics, The Non-Adventures of Wonderella, has done me the favor of designing the poster for my movie Expendable. Check it out!
December 28, 2007
It's almost 2008! You know what that means! IT'S TIME FOR BEARS IN ILL-FITTING HATS
I've drawn one! It took me three minutes. I hope to do more that are better -- the standard of the group as a whole is really, really amazing. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR
December 25, 2007
Here is a holiday card you can share with your friends! Hey, do you know how to set up a website to do an e-card thing that people can use to send e-cards to other people? Email me if you do. Otherwise, you can just send this image to your friends manually. I hear they have electronic mail now? (RECYCLED JOKE FROM TWO YEARS AGO)
December 21, 2007
Niche audience alert! I'm guessing MAYBE 0.1% of readers will be served by the following bit of trivia: in this week's New York Times "Stuart Elliott's In Advertising" email newsletter, the anonymous spoof question -- the one Mr. Elliott called "delightful" and "a good note on which to end the Q&A's for the year" -- was written by me.
New York Times, baby!
December 18, 2007
Today's my last Post Office run of the year! All store orders made before this afternoon will ship out today.
December 14, 2007
Here is another preview for my upcoming movie, Expendable:
If all goes well, the film will premiere online in mid-January as part of the Now Film Festival. Man I can't wait!
December 11, 2007
Here's some new pictures of my calendar -- and if you missed the behind-the-scenes video, here's that too.
There are still plenty left for now, but for the next few weeks an ad will be running with my comic in the printed Onion, so I (rather optimistically) don't expect them to last long.
ANYWAY there's been a lot of blah-blah-blah from me about merchandise these last few weeks, so this is the last I'll mention it -- I'm starting to feel a little like a public radio station begging for pledges, and I know how annoying that is when you've already pledged and just want them to get back to programming. So I'll end the shilling with this: Thank you so much to everyone who's bought stuff from me. Your support is really helping me and my wife through a lean period right now, and I'm thrilled beyond words to have the chance to be a little tiny part of your holidays.
December 7, 2007
Here's a video about my new calendars! I am really excited to be making them, and I hope the video gives you a sense of how cool they are. Store orders in general should ideally be in by this weekend if you can, but as I mentioned before, I'll continue to ship stuff out through the 18th so you may still have a chance for Christmas.
I'm pleased to announce that my bears-in-ill-fitting-hats meme is starting to take off! There's now a public Flickr group, to which Ape Lad (of the great Laugh-Out-Loud Cats) and others have made delightful contributions, and I've just been told that there's a Facebook group as well. I don't know what Facebook groups are for, but if they're for anything at all, then dammit they need to be for bears in ill-fitting hats. You guys are making my holiday dreams come true, one bear in an ill-fitting hat at a time.
December 4, 2007
My new best friend 'halcyonsnow' has a Flickr set full of bears in ill-fitting hats. As you know, said ursines avec chapeaux are part of my plan to dominate 2008. I don't know if this is one of those Flickr things that you people can add to, or however it works, but all I want for Christmas are more pictures of bears in ill-fitting hats floating around on the internet. Seriously, that's it. Go to it.
The nominal ordering deadline for holiday goods is less than a week away, and I am furiously shipping as fast as I can (while also awaiting some reprints on greeting cards that should be done this week). I can't vouch for the Postal Service's speed, and am very nervous about making guarantees as the month progresses, but to be honest I will still be shipping orders through the 18th (which is when I leave town for Christmas) so if you like playing with fire you have a little time left.
November 30, 2007
Holiday orders are shipping briskly! Most of the initial rush from last week is out the door and winging its way to you on gingerbread clouds, or something. Orders containing the limited-edition 2008 calendars will begin shipping early next week, as we print them. At the moment there are plenty of calendars still available, but it is a limited item and I do expect them to sell out eventually.
Do you know about Wondermark Lite? It contains the exact same comics and news posts, but it's hosted on Blogspot with very few graphics, so it may be convenient for users on dialup connections. The main Wondermark RSS feed points over there as well. (Mainly that's because I don't know how to program RSS feeds on my own, so I let Blogger do it.) Anyway now you know!
November 27, 2007
I've done a guest "Book Club" for the comic Unshelved. It is rather colorful!
HOLIDAY DEADLINE REMINDERS: Please place domestic U.S. orders by December 9th; please make international orders ASAP.
November 23, 2007
Hey, Americans! Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving -- or, as our foreign friends call it, Thursday. I also hope you like my new stickers, now available in the store:
November 20, 2007
I am extremely excited to welcome you to the Wondermark Holiday Store! I've released several new greeting cards, including a first-ever Chanukah card. Also, all shirts are now available in ladies' sizes. I've redesigned the Revolution shirt, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. And, for the first time, I'm offering some premium items -- custom framed poster prints, and limited-edition desk calendars, hand-screenprinted by my wife and me. The writer's strike has shut down a lot of production here in Hollywood, and I'm one of the many folks whose regular work has dried up somewhat -- so I'm excited to pour my energy into great holiday gifts for you instead. Hope you enjoy!
Also, today marks the 31st and final chapter of Dispatches from Wondermark Manor, Volume II. The entire novel is online for you to read, and it will remain online until I revise the manuscript in preparation for a collected edition (probably early next year). Now's a great time to pick up Volume I and catch up with the story!
P.S. SHIPPING DEADLINES -- for domestic shipping inside the U.S., please try to get your Christmas orders in by December 9th! As for international orders -- uh, I wouldn't waste much time. It's hard to tell how long it'll take, so order as early as you can. Thanks!
P.P.S. I almost forgot! Awesome new sticker-paks too!
November 16, 2007
Things always take longer than you think, so the store will be updated with new stuff for the holidays NEXT week.
November 13, 2007
Training video from The World's Fifth-Largest Evil Organization:
November 9, 2007
Eric Fiala is bicycling from Alaska to Argentina to raise awareness of autism. He's been riding since June and is currently here in California. Eric's a good friend of one of my good friends, and I wish him the best! He's posting journals and photos of his trip at anticompass.com.
Also, next week I'm launching a metric crapton of new merchandise! GET READY
November 6, 2007
Look what I found hanging around on my hard drive from three years ago! Let it never be said that I am a dude averse to putting unflattering pictures of himself on the internet.
Also, a reminder that Radiation shirts are $3-CASH-BACK until my stock is exhausted! 2XL sizes are already sold out.
November 2, 2007
Here is another piece of video backstory for my upcoming movie:
October 30, 2007
I have a new website for my upcoming movie! I have been working on this film for way too long. But now you can check it out! Here's a sneak peek:
Also: I was interviewed for Wizard Magazine's online webcomics column, Cursory Conversations. READ IT
October 26, 2007
Guys I am seriously in love with BookMooch. I had a shelf full of books I couldn't figure out how to get rid of -- you can't sell most books for any worthwhile amount of money, and I couldn't bring myself to throw them away. Within an hour of posting 22 titles on BookMooch, 17 of them were spoken for: requested by strangers, to whom I'll send the books in the mail. In return, I get "points" that I can redeem for other books from other strangers. If this works out, I may never have to buy books again.
October 23, 2007
I am having a clean-off-my-shelves-before-the-holidays sale! From now until my stock is exhausted, if you purchase one of my Radiation shirts, I will promptly refund you three dollars. It is a CRAZY CASH BACK SALE! The offer is good for Radiation shirts and 3-shirt comboes that include any number of Radiation shirts. If your size is sold out by the time you purchase, I will happily refund your money (or, if you like, send you a different shirt).
I also have one single "Garfield is not funny" shirt left. It is a men's large in electric blue with black printing. It can be yours for eight dollars plus shipping. Please inquire within. Never mind, it's been sold!
Oh and one other thing! If you want to use "this guy" to help propagate future memes, have at him.
October 19, 2007
Yates sums up the SPX experience nicely (with the promise of more to come), and also links to a video of the Achewood/Chris Onstad acceptance speech at the Ignatz Awards. I fully expect this video to win some kind of award of its own, in the same way that the telecast of the Oscars is itself eligible for an Emmy.
October 16, 2007
I had a really great time at SPX! Thank you to everyone who came to the show; it was a pleasure meeting you all. Achewood won the Ignatz Award, but that's fine because Achewood is a great comic. Plus, a gorilla who may have been Chris Onstad accepted the award, so that's hard to beat.
Dresden Codak finally has a brief wrap-up of our Portland appearance last month, as does Yates. Camille caught me napping as well.
In delightful news, I have a short story featured this week on the horror-fiction podcast Pseudopod! I actually wrote the story a while ago for a competition (and won an award for it), but never mentioned it because it couldn't be read online. Now you can listen to the talented Dani Cutler read it aloud. It, uh, differs a bit from the normal tone of Wondermark.
Speaking of podcasts, I mentioned before that you can hear me on the current episode of Webcomics Weekly, but failed to add that you can listen online or download the MP3 without having to subscribe to the podcast: it's "Episode 10" on this page. I was recovering from a bad cold on the day we recorded, so if I sound murky or addled, that's what I'm going to blame it on.
October 11, 2007
Early comic this week -- I'm off to Maryland. Listen for me on this Friday's episode of the Webcomics Weekly podcast!
October 9, 2007
I am going to harp on this point for as long as it takes. Come to SPX and vote for the Ignatz Awards! We will look something like this.
Oh and also tell me what you think about two new shirt designs I came up with.
October 5, 2007
Chris is back with more photocomickal amazement in Reprographics 2: Electric Boogaloo! I have been instructed to expect at least 83% more breakdancing from my fine Coloradan colleague. You can come see us both in Bethesda, Maryland at the Small Press Expo, October 12-13! We will have hands down the most amazing table of all time. Within a mere 18 feet of table-space, you will be able to see:
Jeph "hello ladies" Jacques, of Questionable Content;
Nick "should I bring a hamster?" Gurewitch, of The Perry Bible Fellowship;
Bernie "sleepless in new jersey" Hou, of Alien Loves Predator;
Aaron "at no time will i remove my vest-coat" Diaz, of Dresden Codak;
as well as the regular me-Chris-Colleen lineup.
Please come to the show! We are trying to rock the vote for Wondermark in the Ignatz Awards, which are determined by ballots cast at the show itself. The Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center is really not that far out of your way! I don't know where you live but I am just assuming.
October 2, 2007
Thanks to everyone who came out to Portland! We had a great time and hung out with cool folks. I think others will have con recaps later in the week, so I'll link appropriately then. But in the meantime there is this! It is Darth Vader with his dialogue replaced by lines from Coming to America, and it is quite amusing.
September 28, 2007
If you like humorous short films done in a wildly exaggerated but clever style, then I recommend checking out The Duncan Brothers!
And of course if you like comics I recommend coming to the Stumptown Comics Fest this weekend in Portland, Oregon. My book Treachery! is nominated for a Stumptown Trophy Award in the "Outstanding Writing" category -- please come show your support!
September 25, 2007
If you like -- or even have a passing familiarity with -- PostSecret and LOLcats then I am afraid you have to check out lolsecretz.
And another reminder: I am in Portland this weekend! Come to the show! Or, uh, else.
September 21, 2007
Dispatches from Wondermark Manor Vol. II, my epic prose epic, is chugging right along in my twice-weekly newsletter! I realized that it was sort of dumb to penalize people for coming in halfway through the story, so here are the past chapters in case you want to catch up (or read online without the newsletter -- new chapters will be posted until the book is done). If you missed Vol. I, it's available here in the store!
Also, here is a video I made for a school project over six years ago. Hopefully it is still slightly entertaining.
One more thing -- I'll be in Portland, OR for the Stumptown Comics Fest next weekend! Come and see me and Chris!
September 18, 2007
A couple quick links for today:
1. I did an interview a while back for Illiterate Magazine in Boulder. It never went online, but I've gotten permission to scan the article. Page 1 / Page 2
2. My friend Eric wrote an article for Slate about the nature of vigilante movies, and he continues the topic at his blog.
September 14, 2007
Wondermark has been nominated for an Ignatz Award! This is very flattering, and I am up against some unbelievably great competition, so I feel comfortable labeling myself a "ridiculous underdog." Thank you very much to the jury for this considerable honor.
Now, here's the thing about the Ignatz Awards: once the nominees are announced, the final awards are determined by the votes of attendees at the Small Press Expo. In practice, because the voters can't possibly have read all the nominated comics (especially those that aren't online), they just look over the paper ballots and make checks next to the titles they've actually heard of. In other words, Achewood is going to win.
Which is fine, because Achewood is great, but...if I can get enough people who've actually heard of Wondermark to show up at SPX, we might have a chance of making a decent showing. So if, come the second weekend in October, you're within about a hundred miles of Bethesda, MD -- please come join the valiant underdog struggle! I'll have convention- exclusive mini-comics!
I will say it again because I am serious. Please come to SPX next month!
(Also! Boulderites! Chris Yates Studios Open House this weekend! Say I sent ya, and Chris will give you a free sigh of resignation!)
September 11, 2007
I have decided to quit the Comic Strip Doctor gig. As much fun as the columns were to write, I think people took them way too seriously. Anyway, I have written a final farewell column and it is right here.
It's easy to say something snarky about pop culture and attract a lot of attention. It's harder to make the culture in the first place. But ultimately I think it's more satisfying creatively.
Speaking of making things, if you're in the Boulder, Colorado area, make a point this weekend to stop by the Chris Yates Studios Open House and check out cool handmade toys and puzzles! Support a local artist! Or, punch Chris in the face. Whatever gets you in the door.
September 7, 2007
I want to talk about advertising. I have a new, single ad box, replacing the four button ads and the banner that used to be on every comic page. Now as far as graphical ads go, it's just the one box, 234 x 60 pixels, for the entire site. I'm not really interested in cluttering up the whole site with ads -- I'm one of very few comics in my viewership-bracket without a big leaderboard across the top, and it's on purpose -- but I do want you to take advantage of this single ad box, and here's why.
The money earned from advertising doesn't go towards paying my hosting fees, or buying old books to scan, or even my health insurance. It goes directly towards the cost of convention tables at shows like MoCCA in New York, SPX in Maryland, Stumptown in Portland, STAPLE! in Austin, and APE in San Francisco. (And next year we'll be adding new shows in at least Seattle and San Diego.) Conventions are our chance to connect personally with fans and colleagues, to leave the routine of our daily lives and hit the road for a weekend or a week, saying hello to old friends, shaking hands with people who come to the show, and sometimes making ridiculous movies for you to enjoy. As much as I like the Internet, from day one I have never considered it anything more than a means to an end -- the real benefit is in meeting individuals, real, flesh-and-blood people on the other end of the wires, with their own stories and their own loves and hates and relationships. Conventions are where those connections happen.
But these shows are not cheap. A booth at San Diego costs a minimum of fifteen hundred dollars. Add to that the costs of lodging, food, and travel -- I usually fly commercial, with books and t-shirts stuffed into bulging suitcases; Chris drives his Passat cross-country to every show, packed to the gills with hand-made toys and sculptures. So we offer the advertising space as a way to help defray these significant costs, while at the same time offering an opportunity for ordinary people to gain exposure for their own projects and labors of love - webcomics, small businesses, bands, and creative individuals of every stripe.
And it is a good opportunity: last month Wondermark attracted 160,091 unique visitors who accumulated 1,439,198 pageviews. So it's a good venue for your message, and I hope that advertising on my site does well for you.
But also, a word to the audience. The people who do buy ads on this site do so presumably because they like the comic. If you're here because you like the comic, then you have something in common with them. Won't you spend a click to see what they have to offer?
Thanks for your support!
September 4, 2007
For further Comic-Con video goodness, check out this interesting video in which the Con's ubiquitous stormtroopers, superheroes and other cosplayers answer the question "What's your day job?"
August 31, 2007
A great while back, for Ryan North's Whispered Apologies project, I wrote dialogue to accompany a painting by Romantic from Perfect Stars. Whispered Apologies is gone for the moment, so the collaborative comic (which you may have seen before) has now become part of the permanent Perfect Stars archive, here. If you've never browsed through Perfect Stars before, it's really a beautiful visual treat.
August 28, 2007
Some unforseen factors have caused a delay in shipping Dispatches from Wondermark Manor, so to those who haven't received their copy yet, I apologize. Hopefully all pending orders will be sent out within the week. Thanks for your understanding!
August 24, 2007
Thanks, everyone, for the emails and kind feedback about the documentary. To answer some of the common questions:
1. Yes, I am really flying that plane. Yes, I landed at the San Diego International Airport, sandwiched in between a couple of big jets. No, I did not build the plane myself.
2. Yes, I really shouted at Stan Lee.
3. No, there will not be a DVD. Feel free to download the (relatively) hi-res QuickTime if you like, but I won't be selling this piece in any form. It may, however, show up at film festivals (if I'm lucky), and if that happens I will mention it here. It's also on YouTube and MySpace if you want to spread the love.
4. Yes, if you live in L.A. or thereabouts, you can totally come flying with me! I'm always looking for reasons/excuses. Consider this an open invitation. (Offer not valid if you're creepy or something.)
August 21, 2007
My documentary is done. You can watch it here or here. I worked pretty hard on it. I hope you enjoy it!
August 17, 2007
The documentary is nearly complete, but Gary over at Fleen had an excellent inadvertent suggestion, so I have indeed commissioned an original song from master tunesmith Kristofer Straub. The piece will premiere when it is done. It will be so worth the extra wait.
August 14, 2007
My epic documentary slash tragic love story Me vs. Comic-Con: Who's Better? will premiere on Friday! You guys are going to love this stunning piece of cinema, in which comics luminaries go shockingly on the record serving up the real dish on the relative qualities of me vs. the world's largest pop culture convention. Teaser: two separate people say that I'm hairier.
August 10, 2007
Dispatches from Wondermark Manor, Vol. I is now on sale, as is the new "The Revolution Will Not be Telegraphed" shirt!
You can download the first ten pages of the Dispatches as a PDF if you want to get the flavor of the thing. The book is very nicely printed by E.C. Printing, whom I heartily recommend if you have any projects that involve book printing!
August 7, 2007
I'm a pilot, and I like airplanes and stuff about airplanes. I worked a bit on the marketing for the movie Flyboys, but despite the fact that they used some cool original and replica World War I biplanes, I just couldn't get into the whole "CGI swooping through the wing-struts" deal. Plus it was a pretty dumb story. So I was pleased to stumble across a movie called Dark Blue World, about Czech pilots who flew for the British during WWII. It has a little corny CGI (as there are very few B-24s still flying), but overall it's a very watchable, very nuanced piece of cinema. I definitely recommend adding it to your Netflix queue or setting your TiVo for the next time it plays on IFC.
Also the Dispatches from Wondermark Manor book goes on sale Friday! As does a new t-shirt!
August 3, 2007
Dorothy over at Cat and Girl has just completed an amazing project: she has illustrated all 320 (I think) categories in the Schedule C Principal Business or Professional Activity Codes Table. This is the sort of perfect combination of cleverness and pointlessness that I dig. At one point I wanted to make an art project out of illustrating every character in the Bible -- through all the "begats" and everything -- but alas.
Hey here is a random note. Emily Stuart who emailed me with the subject line "SPX 2008"? I deleted your message by accident! Send it again please! MY COMPUTER THOUGHT IT WAS SPAM I AM SORRY
if it was really spam I guess you don't have to re-send it
July 31, 2007
I had a blast at Comic-Con, and I even got to see quite a few fans, which was a nice surprise, considering I didn't have a booth or anything. Of especial note: the delightful Tod and Corey Marie of Young American Comics, who are making some really cool collaborative books that offer themed "challenges" for artists to fulfill. They are good people doing good things, and if you are at all interested in indie comics, I recommend you check them out!
Also, it's official: next year we will be there, in San Diego, in full exhibitor effect. WE ALREADY PUT IN THE FORM. WE CAN'T TAKE IT BACK. I don't know, maybe we can. But we ain't gonna.
Much of my time at the Con was spent shooting footage for a documentary tentatively titled Malki ! vs. Comic-Con: Who's Better? (Everyone Says It's Me), although the name may change as I tally the results of the many highly scientific surveys I conducted. The piece is, as we say in the biz, "currently in post-production."
Newsletter subscribers today received Chapter 1 of Dispatches from Wondermark Manor, Volume II: Voyage from Wondermark Manor. To sign up for short stories (and, of course, comics) in your email, use the form just over to the right. I think all of the Dispatches volumes will be titled in the style of the Planet of the Apes franchise.
July 27, 2007
As many of you know, for most of this year I wrote strange little stories to accompany my email newsletter. (Here is an example.) I've been on a summer hiatus, but am pleased to announce that starting with Tuesday's update, I will begin Volume II of Dispatches from Wondermark Manor. Over time the Dispatches grew from silly little nothings into a sprawling adventure serial -- but Volume II will be a great jumping-on point for new readers, because I'm going to try my darndest to keep this next set of stories short and (relatively) self-contained. If you're interested in reading the Dispatches, just sign up for the email newsletter, over on the right, there. It's comics and stories delivered to your inbox fresh twice weekly! What could be better.
BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE. If you missed out on Volume I of the Dispatches, never fear:
Thirty-one chapters, 129 pages, available for purchase next month.
July 25, 2007
Bonus comic today folks!
July 24, 2007
If you're going to the San Diego Comic-Con, you already know about it. If you're not, it won't do me any good to tell you about it. I'll be wandering around over the weekend - maybe I'll see you there! Or, maybe I won't.
July 20, 2007
Remember back at comic #300, when I said that because of a bunch of guest comics, #319 would be the ACTUAL 300th comic by me? Well, here it is!
Also I should announce with great pomp and fanfare the FINAL LINEUP for the Machine of Death book edited by Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo and myself! I could blather on about it, but it's really easier just to read about it at machineofdeath.net. If you are interested in further updates, that site has an RSS feed and an email list which I encourage you to subscribe to!
Also: for all you publishers out there: would you like to publish a book of short stories?
July 17, 2007
Here are some cool things for you to watch! My friend Tim wrote and directed a spoof called Welcome Back, Potter. Also, there is this brilliant old Sesame Street bit featuring a proto-Cookie Monster. There! Now you are a well-rounded person.
July 13, 2007
So it looks like I won't be making yellow trailer shirts after all. That's okay! Sometimes it is nice to have a sense of the market before investing any capital. Thanks very much to the brave souls who did contribute to the cause; if you haven't yet gotten your refund, please let me know. I will send you guys something special in the mail anyway!
Also check out this YouTube video about spiders on drugs! It is called "Spiders on Drugs."
July 10, 2007
Here's a neat site: Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools, which is a blog of neat little gadgets, gizmos and handy items for everyday (or highly specialized) use. I especially like the awesome stuff that I've never heard of before, like the grease blotter for cooking. Check out the category list on the left -- now there's way too much stuff I want to buy.
July 6, 2007
I carry around a Moleskine notebook to jot ideas and sketches down in, and once in a while I get the crazy idea that I should just make a whole notebook into a single, long comic. Well, the truth is that I wouldn't be very good at it -- but Dirk Schwieger has done a fantastic job of just that, with his life-in-Japan journal comic Moresukine. Highly recommended.
July 3, 2007
I'm back home! New York and Boston were great fun. Orders from the store will resume shipping today. The pre-orders for the yellow trailer shirt will continue until next Tuesday, which will determine whether I can actually make the shirt or not -- so far I've had a few orders, but not quite enough to justify a print run. If you like it, this is the week to buy it!
If you don't like it, I guess that is okay too.
Also -- this is the most random thing ever, but I'm looking for someplace in L.A. or Ventura County where we can blow up a miniature building for my movie. A big parking lot with nothing flammable nearby would be ideal. We'd need it for about four hours this weekend.
Do you have such a place? Email me please!
June 29, 2007
I am in Boston this week! It is eight million degrees outside. I had no idea that Paul Revere once lived on the surface of the sun.
Totally unrelated to that, my good friend Eric Lichtenfeld has written a book all about action movies, tracing the evolution of the genre from Westerns to Dirty Harry up through Arnold & Sly all the way to the present. And this week, he's written an article for Slate, exploring the phenomenon of the "one-liner" in considerable depth. Check it out here.
June 25, 2007
Early comic this week, as I'm still in NY with spotty internet. FIGURED YOU WOULDN'T MIND
Thanks to everyone who came out to the most-excellent MoCCA Art Festival! It is always a great experience meeting fans, winning over new fans, and fielding bizarre inquiries from people who have no idea what I am doing or why I would do it. I always bring one of my old 19th-century books for display and without fail I get someone who couldn't care less about comics but who wants to buy the old book. Sorry dude, it's not for sale! But thanks for the dirty looks, I will add them to my collection.
I hung out with the usual hardy folks but here are a few that I normally don't say much about: Chris and Kent from the fabulous Dr. McNinja were gracious party hosts; Rosemary from the lovely Bird and Moon was a swell subway companion; and Josh the hilarious Comics Curmudgeon is a fine substitute while you are waiting for your Comic Strip Doctor fix. See you guys next year!
June 22, 2007
I am in New York! Come visit the MoCCA Art Festival on Saturday and/or Sunday. There are many people here you would be interested to meet -- I GUARANTEE IT.
June 19, 2007
A few items of note today! First, I thought it might be interesting to show you how comics like today's bag o' wonderment are actually made. I do have a collection of genuine old books from the 19th century, and probably around 90% of the comics I make these days do not include any commercial clip-art at all (although sometimes I'll pull out the Dover books if I'm looking for a specific hat or chair or something). Here's me making today's comic:
Moving on to a totally different subject, it seems that the Motion Picture Association of America -- that body that assigns movie ratings and clears movie advertising for content (hence green-band and red-band trailers) -- has instituted a new, yellow-band rating specifically for Internet trailers. The idea is that yellow-band trailers are kinda racy or violent, but not quite "adults-only" -- in the MPAA's view, older teens can be allowed to see yellow-band trailers, but nobody younger. The obvious problem is, how do you enforce that? And the answer is, you don't.
Nobody expects it to be enforced. See, studios have been putting unrated trailers online for years, totally bypassing the MPAA system -- and the MPAA couldn't have that. So now they're sticking their nose onto the Internet with a wildly ineffectual measure just so they can say they're a necessary step in the advertising process. Oh, and let's not forget that they're Making Things Safe For Kids too. Gah -- it's a classic example of institutional inertia: doing things that don't need to be done, just so the people who do those things can justify the existence of their jobs.
The moral of the story is, I now have yellow-band trailer shirts available for pre-order:
Lastly -- I'm actually leaving for the New York convention on Thursday, so tomorrow (Wednesday) is the ACTUAL last day to order stuff before I'm gone for a few weeks.
June 15, 2007
I'll be in New York for the MoCCA Arts Festival next weekend, but an important footnote is that I won't be returning home until early July. Thus, no shirts or books or anything will ship out between June 22nd and July 2nd. If this impacts your gifting plans in any way, please consider placing any orders by nextThursday Wednesday, so I can send everything out before I leave town!
June 12, 2007
As you may know I've been making a movie for a while, and it's getting real close to being done. After the New York show next weekend I hope to have the time to start posting some trailers and clips online. But right now I'm asking for a little bit of help -- there are some special effects shots that we're trying to finish, and I'm running out of hours in the day. Are you good at rotoscoping and compositing in After Effects or Shake? Or photo-realistic matte painting? Drop me an email if you're interested in helping out on the project, or want some more info! (If you don't know what any of that means you can just smile and nod and back away slowly.)
June 8, 2007
The LA Weekly has an interesting article this week about Ray Bradbury. I met Mr. Bradbury once, years ago. He slapped my face tenderly and that is a 100% true story.
Also apparently Fahrenheit 451 is not about censorship. Shhh he gets mad
June 5, 2007
A Public Service Announcement: if you're not reading The Non-Adventures of Wonderella by my good friend Justin Pierce, you are missing out on pretty much everything that life has to offer.
June 1, 2007
As promised! Check out the two new shirts and four new cards in the store. Also new: multi-shirt packs and multi-bumper sticker packs.
May 29, 2007
This Friday, June 1st, there will be a couple of changes in the store -- firstly, I'll have several nifty new goods for you; secondly, thanks to the newly increased postal rates, prices will have to shift a bit. If you want to get anything before the rates change, you have until Friday!
Also: Jon Rosenberg spawned a creature! To help celebrate this improbable occurrence I have contributed a guest strip to Goats.
May 25, 2007
One month from now I'll be in New York for the MoCCA art festival, along with many neat folks from across the globe. I'll remind you again as the date draws near, but if you're anywhere within a furlong or two of Manhattan, mark your calendars now for the weekend of June 23-24!
May 22, 2007
Here is a link to an audio documentary of sorts, comprised of interviews recorded at the APE show in San Francisco! At minute 35 in the program you will find an interview with me and my girlish lilt, in which I speak largely about the nuts and bolts of webcomics. It sounds like I am rambling on at great length, which is partially true, but my massive run-on sentences are also due to intermittent questions, pauses, and awkward come-ons having been brutally edited out.
There are also tons of other great interviews in the piece, most notably Keith Knight (K-Chronicles), Gene Yang (American Born Chinese), Shannon Wheeler (Too Much Coffee Man), and Steven Notley (Bob the Angry Flower).
May 18, 2007
Here is a cool comic you should check out: Nobody Scores, which has a breezy style that I really dig!
May 15, 2007
This is comic #300, which is pretty cool! Due to last year's Guest Month it is really only the 281st regular comic by me, so maybe we will have a party around comic #319 or so.
Also, here is a fun new thing! I have moved the "random comic" button up to replace the "first comic" button. ENJOY
May 11, 2007
Guys you can stop wasting your time searching. I have found it: the single best YouTube video ever.
May 8, 2007
Hey if you would like to read some very pretty comics I recommend checking out Dresden Codak! I had the chance to chill a bit with Aaron at the APE con a few weeks ago and found him to be quite the dapper fellow.
May 4, 2007
Recently, I wrote an essay for the magazine AOPA Pilot about earning my pilot's license. The piece was reprinted online (with permission) by a small school newsletter, and you can read it if you like!
May 1, 2007
Thanks to everyone who submitted stories for Machine of Death! Ryan, Matt and I continue to be amazed at the volume of the response. We received nearly seven hundred submissions totaling well over two million words, and we certainly have our work cut out for us. Submitters will be notified starting inJune July.
April 27, 2007
This Monday is the deadline for Machine of Death submissions! Midnight Pacific time on April 30 is the final, total, ultimate deadline beyond which THERE IS NO RECKONING.
Also, April 25th probably doesn't mean much to you, but it marks four years since the first ten Wondermark strips were posted online. If I have any advice at all to offer aspiring webcomickers, it basically comes down to that -- start off with no less than ten strips. Everything else can be extrapolated from that concept if you think hard enough about it.
Thanks for hanging out with me, guys. It's fun.
April 24, 2007
Thanks to everyone who came out to APE! I had a great time meeting you and taking your money. Seriously, it is always a trip for me to put faces and voices to website traffic stats and I thank you for all of your kindness and support.
Here are some great online comics you can enjoy! I'll probably post more later as I work through my stack of swag, but some good places to start would be Joe Sayers, Julia Wertz, and my Onion-mate Shannon Wheeler, who has been making comics for longer than I have been making armpit hair.
Meredith, our lovely and genial San Francisco host, also introduced me and Yates to the work of Jason Shiga, and we were both positively blown away. Later, I was astounded and overjoyed to find TONS of his work online for free reading -- if you have an hour you want to fly by like nothing, I recommend you click this and don't look back.
Finally: to everyone whom I creeped out, I'm sorry. To everyone who creeped ME out, you are forgiven.
April 20, 2007
Item #1 - Come visit me in San Francisco this weekend at the APE convention!
Item #2 - If you live near Boulder/Fort Collins, Colorado, find yourself a copy of this month's Illiterate Magazine -- there's a swell interview with me near the back.
Item #3 - Johnny Hart, the creator of B.C., died about two weeks ago. I didn't mention it at the time, but what nobody seemed to notice is that Brant Parker -- his collaborator on The Wizard of Id -- also died, last week. Both Id (which has been helmed by Parker's son since 1997) and B.C. will continue to run in papers; in the latter case we will soon be treated to that magic synergy that occurs when lame gag writers combine with "a database of imagery from past years of the strip."
Reducing any hand-drawn comic strip to a mindless cut-and-paste job is bad in itself, but especially when the mind behind the strip was so distinctive. Not that I always agreed with B.C. or even particularly enjoyed it -- in fact I wouldn't miss it at all if it disappeared -- but to think that the strip can just seamlessly continue is insulting both to the original artist and to the other creators who're denied a shot at the paper because of it.
And, of course, if the strip is so independent of the personal vision of a singular creator that it CAN continue seamlessly even without his hand at the wheel, well, that's all the more reason that it shouldn't.
April 17, 2007
Today marks the beginning of a rather long and slow process of gradually cleaning up and posting online some of my older film work. Here are a couple of spec commercials I made about five years ago, trying out a Soviet-era Krasnogorsk 16mm film camera I picked up secondhand from some creepy guy. (Still have the camera if anyone wants to buy it.) I never decided which spot I liked better so I just kept 'em both.
Spot #1 / Spot #2
Also, mark your calendars for the APE convention in San Francisco this weekend! I'll be there with THREE new T-shirts (which will go on sale online once I get back home). Also, Yates and I will be giving out free high fives (while supplies last) as per usual.
April 13, 2007
Kurt Vonnegut is dead. So it goes. Here is a track of him reading a selection from Slaughterhouse Five, set to music by parties unknown -- I like the music, personally, but if you don't there is also an unaltered version here.
April 10, 2007
My friend and colleague Bernie from Alien Loves Predator has a newish project called The Burgg, which is sort of like Pictionary if you played it online with strangers and the category was always "movie titles". It's pretty cool! The idea is, you guess what movies people are trying to draw a scene from, or you draw your own and let other people guess. There's even a (quite clever) provision to ensure you don't spell stuff wrong when you guess. Like the finest pharmaceuticals, it's addictive and entertaining both. THE BURGG
April 6, 2007
This is a pretty niche thing, but I wrote some parody articles in the style of the Hollywood trade paper Variety that might be amusing to some of you. They can be found right over here.
April 3, 2007
Wayne has become the first person to submit an entry for the Playground Ghosts Reverse Psychology Convention Theme Song Challenge -- you can listen to his submission here.
Think you can do better? Well, what's stopping you?
March 30, 2007
Tomorrow is the early deadline for submissions to the
Machine of Death story collection! Don't worry - the final deadline isn't for another month yet (April 30), and we will give full consideration to every story submitted before then.
But after April 30, CLANG! The gates come down and you are ACED OUT. You've only got four weeks left, so get (or keep) writing!
March 27, 2007
Check out this spam I got:
March 23, 2007
I think you should see the Top 15 Unintentionally Funny Comic Panels, submitted to me by my friend Dave. It is, as claimed, funny. That is all.
March 20, 2007
My good friend Mike Mohan recently directed a series of eight short comedy films for AtomFilms.com. They're called Casual Encounters and they're based on that creepy section of Craigslist. They are not what I might call "safe for all ages" but if you are so inclined you can watch them all right here!
Also: I helped with one of them, but I'm not saying which.
March 16, 2007
My friend Dave pointed me to this very cool video of an elaborate Rube Goldberg device. But another thing that's interesting is that the creators of the device are using the clip to promote their skills as viral marketers. You can use their "marketing videos" to "increase awareness of your brand." I have nothing against advertising, per se -- it's how I earn my living -- but it seems to me that there's something fundamentally backwards about setting out to create a "viral video" and then hunting for a message to attach to it.
I just saw another website where a kid is trying to get people to buy his (really awful) original art on eBay with the straight-faced promise that "the more you buy, the more chances you'll have to win a big cash prize that I'll pay out once you all make me rich." There seems to be no shortage of people online who are dying for the chance to sell out. But putting a price on any sort of online entertainment is problematic, because the audience will always have free alternatives. Trying to sell out before anyone's buying is putting the cart miles before the horse. But I guess you don't need to convince everyone -- you just need to convince one dumb marketing executive with deep pockets, or failing that, GoldenPalace.com.
March 13, 2007
Hrishikesh Hirway, a.k.a. The One A.M. Radio, is an acquaintance of mine (my friend Mike directed a music video for him), and I really love his music. His new album This Too Will Pass can be streamed in its entirety online. Click on over and listen for free - I think it's great.
March 9, 2007
Recently I was asked, "Where do you get your ideas?" This was my answer.
Also, I met the creator of Girls With Slingshots at STAPLE! last weekend, and I really dig her comic! You should check it out.
March 6, 2007
Austin was great! Our Project Wonderful ad revenue covered the entire cost of the convention table. (Thank you, advertisers! Everyone click on the ads please.)
Colleen has some pictures from the show if you want to see pictures. Also there is this song that we wrote. But as far as "music" goes, I think you can do a better job than I did, and in fact I formally urge you to do so. Details at the link.
March 2, 2007
Guys if you like cool action stuffs then you have to watch Ryan Vs Dorkman 2. It is about the best lightsaber fight I've ever seen, and I've seen all the Star Wars movies plus some YouTube thing with eleven-year-olds in a yard.
RvD2 plays pretty well on YouTube but if you can manage the full-rez hi-def version it will blow you away.
I'm leaving for Austin in a few hours! See you at the show.
February 27, 2007
This weekend kicks off the convention season for the year! See you in Austin on Saturday. I'll have at least one new shirt design with me, maybe more! And if you come up to me and say the secret password "HUCKLEBERRY", I will totally give you a high-five right there on the spot in front of everyone.
February 23, 2007
Two things I've had open in my browser for a couple weeks, waiting for a chance to post: "Unchopping a Tree" and "Departures", both by authors whose other work I'll have to hunt down. I found both selections by following a trail of links that started at McSweeney's.
Speaking of short bursts of prose, subscribers to the Wondermark twice-weekly newsletter have been receiving "Dispatches from Wondermark Manor", a new series by me that tackles the pressing issues of the day. For the sake of convenience I'll just link here to show you an example. To subscribe to the newsletter and receive the comics and the Dispatches in your inbox twice a week, simply sign up on this page (to the right, there).
February 20, 2007
I have a guest column up at Fleen, the webcomic news and reviews site, entitled "Comics is Killing Webcomics." Gary, Fleen's editor, refers to me as an "established, respected creator," and I don't have the heart to correct him!
February 16, 2007
If you like the comic xkcd then you might also like this: Indexed. If you don't like xkcd, are you sure you're on the internet?
Also, a reminder about scraps of crap, the site where I post drawings and sketches and stuff from both myself and you!
February 13, 2007
Ryan Vs. Dorkman was a Star Wars fan film from a few years ago that I quite enjoyed (and I wasn't alone). So I was pleased to learn that the highly-anticipated sequel is having an honest-to-goodness premiere here in Beverly Hills on February 24th. I'm going to do my best to attend, because I love seeing home-brewed ingenuity at work - bucking the system as it were - especially as it applies to movie special effects.
February 9, 2007
If you're a BoingBoing reader this is old news, but friend-of-the-show Chris Yates has devised a simplified, subway-style interstate map of the continental United States. Check it out, buy a print, and be sure to point out to him exactly where he overly-simplified or misplaced an intersection! He
July 29, 2008
POOP SIGN! It's like a stop sign except it says 'poop'.
Poop signs are the brainchild of my friend and business partner Chris Yates, and while they've always been available at his toy store, they now have their very own home on the Web -- along with this hilarious, wonderful promotional video. POOP SIGN
July 25, 2008
I'm at Comic-Con, booth #1235! If you can't make it down to San Diego for the show, check out my epic drama-doc about last year's show, "Me Vs. Comic-Con: Who's Better?"
July 22, 2008
Two more interviews to report today. One's with Tom Spurgeon, and in it I say:
"...Comic strips were far more formative than comic books. Looking at both industries today, from the perspective of an adult in their midst, I'm utterly baffled that the two media even share a common term -- "comics." I don't think they could be more different."
Then there's the one with Geoff Hoppe, in which I say:
"Not many people know that behind the Dark Horse publishing empire there actually is a literal dark horse. He is a swarthy stallion named Morton."
Comic-Con starts tomorrow! What will I say then, safely ensconced in booth #1235? God only knows.
July 18, 2008
I like this Flickr set of iconic photographs recreated in LEGO.
July 15, 2008
Results are in from the Wondermark Semidecennial "Make-Something" Contest! Click here to see some awesome creativity. Congratulations to the winners! I'll be in touch soon to discuss your prizes.
San Diego Comic-Con's coming up, ain't it? I hadn't heard. I'll be in the webcomics section with Dayfree Press: booth 1235. 1-2-3-5. Easy to remember. Even if you just remember 1-2-3-4 it'll get you about to the right place. Come see me at 1-2-3-5 and then radiate outwards to all the other, harder-to-remember booths.
I'll also be signing at the Dark Horse booth (2615) that Saturday from 11 'til noon. But don't try to remember that number because I don't want you to get confused. 1-2-3-5. Booth 1-2-3-5. Comic-Con. Next week. San Diego. Bring dollars.
July 11, 2008
It's been confirmed! I will have Dispatches from Wondermark Manor, Volume II for sale at the San Diego Comic-Con, and I'll put it up here on the site after that (so, beginning of August). Here's a sneak peek at the cover:
Also, "Make-Something" Contest winners will be announced Tuesday!
July 8, 2008
Color strip today, just for fun. Beards of our Forefathers includes ten strips that have been colored in a similar fashion.
Here's a new audio interview I did with the website Comixology.com. It's one of the more comprehensive interviews I've done to date, talking a lot about the genesis of the strip and some of my earlier projects in addition to the familiar interview chestnuts.
I've been getting a lot of very kind emails from people who've received their copy of Beards and enjoyed it -- thanks very much! If you really dug the book, one thing that's very helpful to me is if you leave a review on its Amazon page. Let's see if we can get some reviews on there!
Brief store note: on Thursday I'm heading out of town for about 10 days, so store orders placed on the 10th through the 21st will ship out when I return. I'll try and have all orders placed through the 9th out the door before I go, but orders placed after that won't ship until I return.
July 4, 2008
I agree 100% with Meredith Gran: "Why would I celebrate my nation's independence by doing anything but nurturing my small business?"
There's audio of our Heroes Con panel discussion on webcomics up at Dollar Bin. Moderator Tom Spurgeon speaks with me, Nick Gurewitch, Chris Harding, Danielle Corsetto, and Julia Wertz.
I've made another timelapse video of me making a Wondermark strip (Tuesday's, to be precise) -- here's the link!
July 1, 2008
Three important notes about the store today:
First, I am now selling FRAMED PRINTS. These are not chintzy ready-made plastic frames you might find at the drugstore; they're custom-cut hardwood fitted with shatterproof Lucite and acid-free backing, sealed against dust and moisture, shipped ready to hang on your wall. Each print is signed and hand-assembled by me!
Second, I am now offering the option to upgrade your books to an "Artist Edition," if you'd like me to add a sketch! (Something like this or this or this, perhaps.) Regular versions will still ship with a signature by default.
Third, Beards of our Forefathers is now available for purchase! It should land in your local comics shop tomorrow, or you can pick up a signed copy from me right this second! Not exactly sure when it'll show up in bookstores, but it's gotta be soon.
A special note to the folks who pre-ordered the book on Amazon and are still waiting for it (and who may have received a note from Amazon telling them it'll be a few weeks yet) -- I wish I could send you a free gift of some sort to thank you for supporting me with the pre-order. Unfortunately, the cost of a stamp to send you a letter or gift is about half of what I earn from the Amazon sale of the book. But I do want to thank you all profoundly -- the pre-order numbers really convinced Dark Horse that this book was worth pushing, and the wonderful reviews that I've shown you already (and that we'll hopefully continue to see more of) are thanks to Dark Horse supporting the project 100%. So thank you all, very much!
Also, submissions are now closed for the Make-Something Contest -- thanks to everyone who took the time to enter! I'll announce the results as soon as I finish going through all of your wonderful creations.
June 27, 2008
The deadline for the Wondermark Semidecennial Make-Something Contest draws near! All entries must be received by Monday night, 11:59 PM Pacific Time. If you haven't started, there's still a full weekend for you to get crackin'! I'm giving away over $400 worth of prizes. Details are here!
Also: another kind review of Beards of our Forefathers! I guess the ones who hate it don't bother to tell me about it. UM ER I MEAN EVERYBODY LOVES IT
June 24, 2008
Some more reviews have come out for Beards of our Forefathers! Here's one at Ain't it Cool News, and here's one on Pulp Secret. The book goes on sale next week guys! I am so excited
June 20, 2008
Heroes Con today through Sunday! I'll have the new book, but I may sell out by the end of the weekend. See you there!
June 17, 2008
This weekend I'll be with the Perry Bible Fellowship's Nick Gurewitch at Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina! Maybe Nick will let me take money for punching him the way Randall did.
June 13, 2008
Some great announcements today about new products in the store! First, banded print sets -- these are collections of individual comic prints, organized by theme and bound together like stacks of dollar bills, which I think makes for a snazzy presentation. Each set contains 13 comic prints and sells for $12 (or all three sets for $30). The sets are entitled 'We All Have Problems', 'We All Have Problems at Work' and 'Even Animals Have Problems'. Savvy readers will be able to guess the themes. Check 'em out!
Also, Expendable DVDs have now been joined by patches and DVD/patch/poster collector sets! The DVDs have come down in price by a couple bucks as well. I hate to say it, but increased U.S. postal rates are probably going to spell some price shifting in the store soon, so if you've had your eye on something in particular, I'd recommend picking it up now. (Beards of our Forefathers doesn't go on sale until July 1st, but its price won't increase.) Ladies' shirts are also still on clearance.
Finally, I just bought a longboard, and I am somewhat less than an expert at riding it. Won't you give me some tips on the new messageboard?
June 10, 2008
I am back from New York, and boy did people love the book. There is nothing better than having total strangers, utterly unfamiliar with Wondermark, pick up a copy of Beards of our Forefathers and say, "Wow, this is beautiful." I'm super-happy to have the pride I have in the book validated. The next chance for you to pick up a copy will be at Heroes Con in Charlotte, June 20-22.
New item: Print sets are going on sale later this week! Check back, say,
June 6, 2008
I'm in New York for the MoCCA Art Festival and Staten Island Film Festival! I spent fifteen solid hours yesterday being transported by car, plane, train, bus, van, and my own two legs. Hello, New York -- I love your public transportation system but does it really have to take so long to get anywhere? (It would also help if I could read maps correctly.)
I have a new messageboard/forum! On it you can see a sneak peek of some of the things I'll have at the show this weekend. Hopefully it will be a lively source of discussion and a minimal source of sadness. We shall see!
June 3, 2008
This weekend I'll be in New York for the MoCCA Art Festival! MoCCA is one of my favorite shows, and this year Randall Munroe will be joining me and Yates. I'll have my new book, Yates will have his new book, Randall will have the charisma that he brings with him everywhere, and if you don't care about any of us, there's plenty of other great guests for you to get excited about. If you're anywhere at all near New York City, you must attend!
In addition, I'll be on Staten Island Friday night for a screening of Expendable at the Staten Island Film Festival. If you're in the area, come on by! It'll also be playing this weekend at Soonercon, in Oklahoma City.
Also, a detail to point out: the book in the photo last week is in fact the very first copy ever, and will be the exact copy going to a lucky contest winner!
May 30, 2008
Guys check it out !!
These are advance copies. I'm planning to have sale copies at my next couple of shows. You can still pre-order on Amazon (to save a few bucks), or wait for them to show up here on the site in about a month.
May 27, 2008
This upcoming Sunday, June 1st, Dave Kellett and I will be appearing at Book Expo America, signing books from 2-4pm as guests of Bill & Gene from Unshelved. (They're in the event program and directory; Dave & I are not.) BEA is a terrifically expensive industry tradeshow, so I don't expect you'll come out just to see me, but if you happen to be going anyway, please stop by! I'm expecting the very first advance copies of Beards of our Forefathers this week, and I hope to have them at the show.
May 23, 2008
Links to thinks you can read and/or watch! First is an advance review of my upcoming book Beards of our Forefathers, which a lucky contest winner will receive the very first copy of. Second is a trailer for the film that my friend Mike Mohan is making; I didn't edit this trailer, but I am quite looking forward to the film!
May 20, 2008
Two action items today! First: I am having a spring cleaning T-shirt sale on all ladies' items (and selected XS/S unisex items, which might as well be ladies' items). All ladies' shirts are only $12, or 3 for $32 (plus shipping). In other words, I am selling high-quality, American-made apparel for $11.89 Canadian, ?7.73 in Euros, or £6.16 pounds! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, FOREIGNERS
Second action item: if you liked my movie Expendable (which picked up an award for Best Narrative Short at the Tallahassee Film Festival over the weekend), please visit: myspace.com/nowfilmfest and vote! This is an "audience choice award" situation for an online film festival -- I'd never direct you to MySpace if it wasn't important. Thanks!
May 16, 2008
So I have a Twitter now. So far I've only used it for cracking wise and occasionally complaining about junk, but as far as I can tell that's what it's for, so there you go. Over time I'll probably start making special announcements via Twitter, about things like bonus comics or limited edition merch, so if you're interested in that then it'd probably be wise to tune in...but for the moment it's mainly cracking wise and complaining.
Also, I've had this link hanging out in a browser tab for far too long; time to post it! Just goes to show what you can accomplish with free time.
May 13, 2008
The convention in Seattle was great! Thanks to everyone who came and said hello. Seattle is, according to my site stats, the city with the most Wondermark.com fans -- edging out even cities like New York and San Francisco where Wondermark is on newsstands in the Onion. Anyway there were happy rainbow flowers in the convention center and the sun knelt down to gently kiss the Earth whilst spewing candy-canes from its breast and Santa Claus blessed us all with lameness-repellent made from the magical musk of regurgitated reindeer-snot and all was peaceful for all mankind throughout the Galactic Federation.
Well, okay, it wasn't that good. But I had fun.
Hey, remember that I have a contest going on? Just didn't want you to forget, is all.
May 9, 2008
I was informed by Marksman Owen J. this week that my "Why Study?" downloadable educational poster for schools could, with a slight modification, reach an even wider audience with my message of 'alternative productivity':
Click to download a print-res version.
Other news: I am in Seattle this weekend at the Emerald City Comic Con! This is my first show ever in Seattle and I'm very excited. All reports indicate that it'll be a huge show, and I'm looking forward to meeting lots of new people and hopefully making some new fans. Hope to see you there!
May 5, 2008
I was on the UCLA campus yesterday, and everybody was just bustling about hither and yon, all wrapped up in the end of the semester. It got me thinking...what if there were something I could do to make their burdens seem a little lighter, to make each weary day a little brighter? But, it seems, there is:
I'm on a plane to Seattle tomorrow (for the Emerald City Comic Con this weekend! See you there!) so I won't have a chance to paper any campuses with these flyers. But you certainly can! Here's an 8.5" x 11" flyer for you to print out, make many copies of, and display, if you wish, on your campus! Bringing joy to your fellow suffering students can be your good deed for the term -- I'd award you extra credit if I could. (Remember to snip the pull-off tabs with scissors in the grand guitar-lessons-flyer tradition!)
you can also send me pictures or put them on facebook if you like
May 2, 2008
At any given time I have about four to six new products for the Wondermark Store in various stages of completion. Occasionally I'll have one or two ready for launch, but I'll hold off making an announcement until I can announce several other things all at once -- the logic being, that way I spend less time overall harping to you about the store and merchandise. The downside is that if some things end up taking really long to complete, earlier products end up languishing un-announced, sitting in boxes in my house instead of being sold.
In an attempt to solve this problem, I'm going to start announcing "Featured Item(s) of the Month." This establishes a system for rolling out new products on a regular basis. Because I know that's what you've been clamoring for.
The inaugural Featured Item for May is the Expendable DVD! (If you haven't seen the movie I released earlier this year, you can watch it on YouTube here.) The DVD version of the film looks and sounds great, and the disc also includes over 30 minutes of bonus features including deleted scenes, A.R.A.C.H.N.I.D. promotional videos (some of which are previously unreleased), and footage from an early test shoot. I should also mention that these DVDs are FREE to film-industry types or financial types that might move us an inch or two closer to our ultimate goal of making a feature film -- but to everyone else, they're a great way to help support this independent project. All revenue goes towards reimbursing our production costs. Click here or on the picture!
April 29, 2008
Thanks to everyone who came and said hello at Stumptown! This year was the most fun yet, thanks to the friendliness and encouragement of the Portland fan community. Yates and I stayed with The Diaz and hung out with wonderful comickers Meredith, Kate, B., and Nick of the East Coast, the Great North, Parts Unknown, and his own brain respectively. Also in evidence: the idea hat and, of course, the robot. When Nick says "let's build a robot" the night before he's due to give a talk, well by God we're building a robot.
Also, a reminder: the original-art eBay auction ends today!
And finally, feel free to click on the following if you like a little competition in your life:
April 25, 2008
The Stumptown Comics Fest is in Portland, Oregon this weekend! I can't wait to meet you there!
The eBay auction of original Wondermark art is going strong so far! Thanks to everyone for the support!
Oh, and how about this -- I am a guest voice in this week's New York Times "The Ethicist" podcast! (4/24/08)
that sound you just heard is your neck snapping from the topic whiplash
also: today's the fifth anniversary of Wondermark. Last week I mentioned a contest. Further details on that will be forthcoming next week.
April 22, 2008
Fun thing #1: I have a guest strip up at Sheldon today! Because Dave Kellett and his wife had a baby. Isn't that special. Okay, I will concede that in this case it's pretty awesome, because Dave is about the rockingest guy I know, and he has so much love and goodwill in his heart that I know he's gonna make the arcade-game top-scores-list of Best Dads Ever. Seriously, among all the dads all throughout history (or at least since the machine was last unplugged), he will totally be up there. Congrats Dave and Gloria!
Fun thing #2: In the grand Kellettian tradition, I am offering a piece of original comic art for sale! It's strip #395, the only Wondermark I've ever hand-drawn. The auction's live now, and it's a great chance to own a unique piece of Wondermark as well as help support me and this site.
Fun thing #3: I am in Portland, Oregon this weekend, with Nick Gurewitch, Aaron Diaz, Birthday Boy and other people you love! Come and say hello!
April 18, 2008
This is regular comic #400! That's pretty neat! But even MORE neat is that next Friday, April 25th, will be the FIFTH ANNIVERSARY of Wondermark. Five years! Of doing this! You'd think I'd have more than 400 comics by now. Well, I don't.
To commemorate the occasion, I'm announcing a contest. I'll post the full rules and rigmarole next Friday, but the gist of it is something like this.
Around 1997, Wizard magazine ran a contest in partnership with the comics publisher Top Cow. They asked fans to create something to demonstrate their affinity for Top Cow. I remember that a "Witchblade opera" was one of the suggestions. But there were really no rules as to what it could be -- just something, anything at all, that said "I love Top Cow."
My friend Stephen and I decided to make a movie. It was called Moo: The Bovine Pursuit, and I'm sad to say that I don't think I have a complete copy of it anymore. (I do have this version, which lacks the snazzy oscillating-fan-blowing-pages-of-a-comic-book title sequence and the overdubbed Final Fantasy III musical score.) It was the first time I tried any sort of video editing; Stephen and I spent an afternoon doing the whole record-pause-rewind-play-unpause technique familiar to anyone creative of our generation.
And we won third prize in the contest.
A national contest, and we won third prize. The reward was a stack of signed comics and trading cards, and I remember divvying them up with Stephen. We were so excited that our goofy little thing that we worked hard on actually won a prize.
Today, I want you to have just as much fun as we did eleven years ago. If you like Wondermark, I want you to make something. Doesn't have to be a video; doesn't have to be anything in particular. But I want you to be creative, and to have fun. That's the only guideline.
The deadline for submissions is July 1st. I'll give out several prizes which I'll list in detail next Friday, but they'll include original art, comic prints, and for one lucky fan, the very first copy of Beards of our Forefathers to come off the press.
More details about how to submit, etc. will follow next week. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
Other news: next Tuesday I'll be auctioning off the original art from the hand-drawn April Fool's comic; if you're interested in bidding, watch for that next week. I'll start the bid at 99¢ and wherever it goes, it goes.
Also, this weekend Expendable plays in Lake Forest, Illinois and Muskogee, Oklahoma! At this point it's actually playing almost every weekend somewhere in the country, but I forget to mention it a lot.
April 15, 2008
My friend Mike Mohan is making a feature film! Also, big news coming up on Friday.
April 11, 2008
Alan Shih from RagingCheetah.com has published an interview with me conducted at the Wizard World show last month. I'm trying to get better at giving different answers in interviews, because I know diehard Wonder Women and Marksmen* aren't really interested in reading the same old things over and over, but it's not always easy on the convention floor when all day long I am giving an identical pitch to everyone who approaches the table.
From now on though I insist that all interviews with me be run through Babelfish half a dozen times prior to publication, and any errors that creep into the text as it flounders through six languages and back will become official Wondermark canon.
* get it
April 8, 2008
Hey did you check out my 8-page Wondermark story in Dark Horse Presents? Yes? Well, thanks! I hope you liked it.
April 4, 2008
Was I lying on Tuesday? Possibly. Was it all a grand April Fool's gag that everyone took as a lighthearted jest? Judging from the many heartfelt emails, perhaps not. Thank you for the kind support, everyone! Back to Victorian engravings we go.
Here's something that will make it up to you: the online anthology Dark Horse Presents has just published an original 8-page Wondermark story! A spiritual successor to my print-only comic book Treachery!, the new story is entitled Ransom!, and was a ton of fun to make. It contains Victorian engravings aplenty, people who emailed me
Also! On Tuesday I pointed you to the Legend of Zelda movie trailer at IGN. Now that it's been revealed as a gag, IGN has posted a behind-the-scenes making-of video featuring a face that strikes me as familiar... who could that lovely makeup artist be?
April 1, 2008
Guys I'm giving up the Victorian-engravings shtick and will just be hand-drawing all my comics from now on.
Also if you like video games even a little bit then you should really, really check this out.
March 28, 2008
This Sunday, at the Digital Video & High Definition Film Festival, Expendable will have its only free, big-screen screening in Los Angeles for the foreseeable future -- and we've also been nominated for Best Comedy Short! I'll be at the screening on Sunday if anybody would like to say hello.
March 25, 2008
Here is some press coverage about my upcoming book, Beards of our Forefathers: an article at Publishers Weekly, another at some other site, and the official Dark Horse press release.
Also, to answer some readers' questions about the book: I'm encouraging Amazon pre-orders now, but I will also have signed copies available for purchase directly from my store once it comes out in the summer. Anyone who buys the book via Amazon or their local bookstore will also be able to, if they like, send me their copy for signature/personalization.
While I'm posting articles, here's another (very favorable) review of a short story I had featured in Pseudopod recently. The mention of my story, "Fever," is near the bottom of the page.
March 21, 2008
A podcast called "Half Hour Wasted" interviewed me at the STAPLE! show a few weeks ago! Here's the episode -- the bit with me starts at 24:50. I don't say much that's news to the dedicated Wondermark fan ("Wonderian"? "Marker"? "Marki"?); I should really start making up wildly divergent answers to interview questions in the future.
Special note to Los Angeles-area fans: Anyone work in a cube farm where I might be able to bring in a film crew to shoot a scene next Saturday? Email me!
March 18, 2008
It was great to see the folks that came out to Wizard World! If you picked up a flyer and are here seeing what the fuss is about, here's a good overview.
The long-awaited How to Make Webcomics book from the Halfpixel guys is finally out! I got my copy yesterday and it's a chunky brick o' love: equally pressed, condensed wood pulp AND pressed, condensed comics brilliance. It's available from Dave, Kris, Brad, or Scott, and since they split the profits you can just pick the dude closest to you: L.A., Texas, Philly or Cairo.
March 14, 2008
A reminder that I'm at Wizard World L.A. today and through the weekend; my hometown appearances have thus far been lackluster in terms of attendance, so let's see what we can do about that, if we can.
Also: this is killer.
March 11, 2008
Perhaps you remember this video about the making of this comic? Well, here's another video showing the process of making today's comic! Today's comic is basically a collage; it's a complex image created from disparate elements, whereas the first video was about a comic that was much more simple visually -- so I thought it would be neat to show the contrasting technique.
Also: I'm at Wizard World Los Angeles this weekend with Keith Knight, Dave Kellett,
March 7, 2008
If you missed the most-excellent panel discussion at STAPLE! last weekend, you can sit in your room and cry, or you can watch the video! Either way. (There are a couple of swearies in it, I guess I should warn you. But not many.)
I'm screening Expendable today in Ogden, Utah at the Foursite Film Festival. Everyone in Utah is nice, and upon learning that I'm from Los Angeles, they inevitably tell me that "it's a lot colder here than in L.A.!" YES THANK YOU I NOTICED
Oh No Robot search is back, after a prolonged absence! That means that most of the recent comics in the archive have "Transcribe this comic" buttons. You know what to do! Or, maybe you don't. Either way.
March 4, 2008
STAPLE! was a blast last weekend. It was a tremendous way to kick off this year's convention season -- the whole experience had me so brimming with excitement that I actually had to be hosed down by TSA before they'd let me on the plane home. "Sorry, sir," they said. "You look a little too jazzed about comics to be safe in a pressurized environment." I tried to argue, but in truth the hose thing was sort of fun too, and I gotta get my kicks for free when opportunities like that arise.
I know I've recently mentioned Danielle, Kris and Scott -- with whom I have formed the rock-star group The Awesome Webcomic Panelists Who Can Thrill An Eager And Not Altogether Discerning Crowd Indefinitely -- but not only did I thoroughly enjoy every minute that we hung out, I have an incredible respect for their craft. Events like STAPLE! always rejuvenate my artistic spirit, and I was stoked that between sketchbooks and barbecue-restaurant tablecloths and even public displays, I got to spend the weekend drawing.
The March Previews is out now -- if you're not enough of a comics nerd to know what Previews is, then you don't need to keep reading; I commend you for, you know, having a life. If you are a comics nerd, though, and you want to buy my new book Beards of our Forefathers through your local comics shop (or ask the shop to buy a few copies for the shelf), you can either look on page 41 of the March Previews or print out your own page 41 and slap it on the counter. (Here's an alternate version as well that may go easier on your printer ink.) When the clerk asks why you want him to buy 500 copies of a single book for his store, all you have to do is simply place one hand on his shoulder, bow your head, and say "I don't necessarily want you to go bankrupt, but if that's what it takes, that's what it takes."
February 29, 2008
COOL STUFF RUNDOWN:
This Saturday I'll be in Austin for STAPLE! and I will be having a GREAT time. Maybe YOU will be too?
Then, Expendable screens Sunday in Beverly Hills! I won't be there but...maybe YOU will be?
THEN, on Friday March 7th I will be in Ogden, Utah with Expendable at the Foursite Film Festival. This one you probably won't be at. But it would be really amazing if you were to surprise me and show up! I will ask, "Boy, you've done a lot of traveling this week, haven't you?" and you will probably just give me a hug.
Oh wait that was IN MY DREAMS
February 26, 2008
New comics every day this week through Friday! Then, Saturday, I'll be exhibiting at the STAPLE! show in Austin, Texas, and I'll be on a webcomics panel with Kris Straub, Danielle Corsetto, and Scott Kurtz. Methinks someone got the wrong idea about how competent I am at this gig.
February 21, 2008
Here's something I should remind everyone of: if you use Firefox, and when you mouseover the comics the pop-up text window is truncated or cut off, that's something that can be fixed with either this or this plug-in! I've heard rumors that this annoying bug will be fixed in Firefox 3, but it's been an outstanding issue for years and years that the Firefox dev team seems to at this point be spitefully ignoring because they hate freedom. Anyway these plug-ins will work on any image that uses mouseover text, which means that you can also now properly enjoy graphs, excitement, multiculturalism, despair, etc., etc.
February 19, 2008
What's this?
It's my new book! This 96-page hardcover will be hitting bookstore shelves in June, courtesy of Dark Horse Comics. It picks up where The Annotated Wondermark left off, and includes 131 comic strips (including many that have never appeared on this site) as well as Treachery!. I've also written loads of fun extra material especially for this collection, including a Dispatches from Wondermark Manor prologue chapter.
And the best part is...it's available on Amazon now for pre-order!
The last few weeks have been a bit of an education in publishing for me. Typically, the way I've sold books in the past is: 1. I design the books. 2. I print the books. 3. I sell the books to you. This model has worked well for me so far, but for the new book, I'm having to change tactics.
The revised model goes like this: 1. I design the book (done). 2. You pre-order the book. 3. Dark Horse looks at those pre-order numbers, and decides how many books to print and how much of a promotional effort the book deserves. 4. The book is a resounding success, and Dark Horse and I go on to make more books -OR- the book does poorly and I go back to the previous model of bookselling.
In other words, pre-orders are extremely important. In addition to encouraging individual sales, I'll be urging as many bookstores and comic stores as I can to order copies for the shelf. You can do the same in your area! The book will be solicited in the June Previews (which comic stores will receive next month), and it's already in the Dark Horse Summer Catalog, which bookstores should have a copy of. The ISBN is 978-1593079840.
Another new way that you can help support Wondermark is by making general Amazon purchases via my site, like so:
Anything you buy on Amazon after clicking through from Wondermark earns me a commission, and it doesn't cost you an extra penny! I see it sort of as a tip jar. Feel free to use my site as a portal for your general Amazon searching -- or, if you think I'm being crass, then don't! That's fine too.
February 14, 2008
Early comic this week, folks, so you can have this lovely nondenominational Valentine thing for your FaceSpace &c.
Expendable screens in Hollywood tomorrow, and we'll be in attendance with DVDs! Details here.
I'll have a pretty exciting announcement coming up soon, but I can't resist giving you just the tiniest hint: "Amazon."
February 12, 2008
If you like to laugh, and you're not put off by buckets and buckets of profanity, check out the "David Blaine: Street Magic" videos here. These guys are actors at the Groundlings theater -- watch all three Blaine spoofs in order for maximal hilarity.
If you don't get what they're spoofing, here's a real David Blaine video. CAUTION DOUCHE AHEAD
February 8, 2008
What if Hollywood was run by the comic industry, instead of by movies? If Marvel and DC were the big guns instead of Fox, Paramount and the like, and if starry-eyed youngsters moved to the city to audition for issues instead of episodes? Such is the world of Kevin McShane's Toupydoops. It's a great premise that Kevin pulls off pitch-perfectly, with clean artwork and sharp wit. Check it out!
February 5, 2008
My movie Expendable will be screening at several film festivals over the coming weeks and months -- an ever-growing list of venues has been posted at the official film site. This coming weekend it'll be in both Seattle, WA and Antioch, CA; if you're interested in seeing the film on the big screen, or bringing friends to see it, this is your chance! Later in February it'll be here in L.A. a few times, then in Utah, Florida, and Oregon after that.
Time's growing short for Valentine's Day orders -- I can't guarantee delivery by the 14th anymore, but you may still have a decent chance if you order soon.
February 1, 2008
It's February! I am coming up on a full year of non-full-time employment. I haven't had an actual "job," like with holidays and health insurance and stuff, for about two years now, but I had a pretty regular freelance gig for most of 2006 and the first few months of 2007. When that ended, I started flying without a net, and it's been scary, rewarding, frustrating and exhilarating in about equal measure.
Nearly a year on, I'm finding myself turning down work-for-hire gigs more and more often so I can have time to focus on the comic and other personal projects. Like Tuesday's comic expressed (in a fashion), I don't want to waste or give away any more of my own personal calendar-squares than I have to. Often that means that I walk away from decent paychecks or even potential career opportunities -- but in doing so, I've realized with growing clarity how important it is to spend my finite energy in pursuit of my own goals, rather than those of an advertising agency, movie studio, or corporate client.
This transition has only been possible because of your generous support. Thank you so much for reading the comic, for blogging about it and spreading the word, for buying from the store and for offering a kind word at conventions. You are the reason I do this and why I'm thrilled to be working very hard on new, exciting directions for not only Wondermark, but the greater Wondermark Enterprises brand. Thank you all for your continued kindness -- I couldn't, and wouldn't, do it without you.
January 29, 2008
Kate Beaton is a comic artist with a beautifully breezy pen style that communicates gesture and expression as well as any comic I've seen recently. All of her comics are really endearing, but I particularly love her wonderfully witty series about historical figures such as Benedict Arnold and Genghis Khan. Kate I dig it please keep it up.
January 25, 2008
The big news is that my movie Expendable is finally finished, and you can watch it right here. There's also an interview with me about the film here, where I discuss the process a bit. I really am very proud of the film, and to those who've watched it and enjoyed it already, thank you very much for the kind comments. It's been a lengthy labor of love, and I'm indebted to the fine folks who've helped me along the way, including the peerless Kris Straub and Dave Kellett (contributing original music and voice talent, respectively) as well as hardy fans Pete, Badger, Nato and Annabel, who showed up on set and worked like they were getting paid.
The reason for making a film of this scale and complexity is that my co-writer, Todd, and I are hoping to generate enough interest in the property to make a full, feature-length version. So I'd like to ask that if you've enjoyed Expendable, if you'd please blog about it, or send the link to a friend, or perhaps pick up a DVD in a few weeks when they become available. All these things help the process immensely -- it only takes one single viewing by the right person to set unpredictable wheels in motion.
New Valentine cards are still available, and I'd order sooner rather than later to increase the odds of pre-Feb. 14th delivery.
And, so far we've had quite a few responses to the offer of free Wondermark comics in your school paper! There's details here if you missed the info, and remember, even if you're not on staff at the paper yourself, you can always forward my offer to the editor. (Please be pleasant when you do!) Welcome, new readers in Florida, Arizona, Kentucky, Quebec, Ontario, New York state, Washington state, Irvine, and New Zealand! You probably will not see this message because it is online.
January 22, 2008
As far as I've been informed, tomorrow's the day when my movie Expendable premieres online! I'm currently working on getting the DVD ready for the film's theatrical (festival) premiere in February -- take a peek at the cover, won't you? I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.
Also, Valentine's Day is coming up, isn't it? I've got two brand-new Valentine card designs now for sale in the store...because I love you.
January 18, 2008
After Tuesday's strip, a reader informed me of a product called BUG, which is apparently exactly what the character in the comic pined for -- a modular, expandable, programmable personal device with wireless Internet built-in and a bevy of attachments available, from cameras to GPS trackers to LCD screens. It's a start, but truth be told, what I really want is a Swiss Army phone with a tape measure all spooled up inside ready for me to occasionally need it. I am pretty easy to please.
Also here's a new Expendable promo -- this one's another of the "henchman corporate training" type:
January 15, 2008
The Now Film Festival has elected to postpone my film's release for one week, to better take advantage of some publicity opportunities. So it'll premiere on January 23rd. My apologies, but it's out of my hands.
I figure it's time to clarify my policy on re-posting/embedding/hotlinking/inlining my comics on your blog, LiveBook, FaceSpace, etc.: I don't mind it at all! As long as you don't edit the image, and you provide a link back to wondermark.com, you hereby have my permission to post my images elsewhere on the web.
There's also a Facebook group for Wondermark. I'm sort of relying on you guys to provide, like, content or whatever for it, as I'm still a bit unclear on the concept. But there it is! My policy on Facebook friends has had to become "only people I actually know in person," though, otherwise it just gets too unwieldy for me. (Don't worry, you're not missing out on anything -- I don't post much anyway.) But do join the group!
P.S. One other thing I forgot...I'm trying to figure out the best way to have a 100kg package shipped from the UK to California. So far I haven't found any method that costs less than £300. It is possible to break it into smaller shipments, but I'm not sure if that helps the cost. Anyone have any bright ideas? Email me!
January 11, 2008
At SPX this year I contributed to a ten-foot-long scroll-shaped jam comic shepherded by a dude named John McNamee. It doesn't make a ton of sense, but it was fun to draw stupid pictures!
My offer to schools still stands: Free Wondermark comics in your campus newspaper! See my previous post for details.
Also, my movie Expendable will premiere online next Wednesday! ARE YOU EXCITED BECAUSE I AM EXCITED
Lastly: only 6 calendars left!
January 8, 2008
School's back in session, right? I don't even know. Kids, once you graduate and your life is freed of the time-markers of the scholastic calendar -- semesters, finals, summers -- years start buzzing by in a blur. So, you should want to make your school-days drag by as sloooowly as possible. Well, now I can help, by filling your school newspaper with lowbrow comics! Since time flies when you're having fun, that is.
For the first time, I'm offering a full semester of weekly Wondermarks to your school paper for free! Here is all that has to happen for you to start seeing Wondermark on your campus before you can say jack-sprinkletoes. The editor (or AN editor) of the paper should email me the following information:
1. Who you are and what school you're from
2. How many weeks worth of comics' you'd need (i.e. how long is your semester)
3. Name and contact info of a faculty advisor
4. Favorite mammal and why
If you ARE the faculty advisor, you can leave out the third part. And that's it! I'll write back and we'll go from there. All I ask is that the comics be printed with the header and wondermark.com URL intact, and you can have comics in your paper for free. If you would like this to happen, but are not an editor of your school newspaper, you should politely inform someone who is.
I am especially hopeful that someone from a foreign nation might like to put Wondermark in their paper in a different language! You'll have to do the translating, but I would very much like to see it when you're done.
p.s. only 9 calendars remain!
p.p.s. if the mammal thing is a deal-breaker with your crusty old faculty advisor then don't worry about it. but geez lighten up seriously
January 4, 2008
I should mention that there are still, as of this moment, 26 calendars remaining of the hundred that we made. Number 100 is extra-special and is signed by both me AND my wife Nikki. Don't worry that the year's already started -- I have it on good authority that any days in 2008 that you miss having your Wondermark calendar to consult, you can cut out and paste back in for extra days at the end of the year.
And if you're just too low on cash, why not consider a job at A.R.A.C.H.N.I.D.? They'll take pretty much anybody:
(p.s. if you worked on the movie please verify the spelling of your name before we finalize the credits. Thanks!)
January 1, 2008
Justin Pierce, the author of one of my favorite comics, The Non-Adventures of Wonderella, has done me the favor of designing the poster for my movie Expendable. Check it out!
December 28, 2007
It's almost 2008! You know what that means! IT'S TIME FOR BEARS IN ILL-FITTING HATS
I've drawn one! It took me three minutes. I hope to do more that are better -- the standard of the group as a whole is really, really amazing. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR
December 25, 2007
Here is a holiday card you can share with your friends! Hey, do you know how to set up a website to do an e-card thing that people can use to send e-cards to other people? Email me if you do. Otherwise, you can just send this image to your friends manually. I hear they have electronic mail now? (RECYCLED JOKE FROM TWO YEARS AGO)
December 21, 2007
Niche audience alert! I'm guessing MAYBE 0.1% of readers will be served by the following bit of trivia: in this week's New York Times "Stuart Elliott's In Advertising" email newsletter, the anonymous spoof question -- the one Mr. Elliott called "delightful" and "a good note on which to end the Q&A's for the year" -- was written by me.
New York Times, baby!
December 18, 2007
Today's my last Post Office run of the year! All store orders made before this afternoon will ship out today.
December 14, 2007
Here is another preview for my upcoming movie, Expendable:
If all goes well, the film will premiere online in mid-January as part of the Now Film Festival. Man I can't wait!
December 11, 2007
Here's some new pictures of my calendar -- and if you missed the behind-the-scenes video, here's that too.
There are still plenty left for now, but for the next few weeks an ad will be running with my comic in the printed Onion, so I (rather optimistically) don't expect them to last long.
ANYWAY there's been a lot of blah-blah-blah from me about merchandise these last few weeks, so this is the last I'll mention it -- I'm starting to feel a little like a public radio station begging for pledges, and I know how annoying that is when you've already pledged and just want them to get back to programming. So I'll end the shilling with this: Thank you so much to everyone who's bought stuff from me. Your support is really helping me and my wife through a lean period right now, and I'm thrilled beyond words to have the chance to be a little tiny part of your holidays.
December 7, 2007
Here's a video about my new calendars! I am really excited to be making them, and I hope the video gives you a sense of how cool they are. Store orders in general should ideally be in by this weekend if you can, but as I mentioned before, I'll continue to ship stuff out through the 18th so you may still have a chance for Christmas.
I'm pleased to announce that my bears-in-ill-fitting-hats meme is starting to take off! There's now a public Flickr group, to which Ape Lad (of the great Laugh-Out-Loud Cats) and others have made delightful contributions, and I've just been told that there's a Facebook group as well. I don't know what Facebook groups are for, but if they're for anything at all, then dammit they need to be for bears in ill-fitting hats. You guys are making my holiday dreams come true, one bear in an ill-fitting hat at a time.
December 4, 2007
My new best friend 'halcyonsnow' has a Flickr set full of bears in ill-fitting hats. As you know, said ursines avec chapeaux are part of my plan to dominate 2008. I don't know if this is one of those Flickr things that you people can add to, or however it works, but all I want for Christmas are more pictures of bears in ill-fitting hats floating around on the internet. Seriously, that's it. Go to it.
The nominal ordering deadline for holiday goods is less than a week away, and I am furiously shipping as fast as I can (while also awaiting some reprints on greeting cards that should be done this week). I can't vouch for the Postal Service's speed, and am very nervous about making guarantees as the month progresses, but to be honest I will still be shipping orders through the 18th (which is when I leave town for Christmas) so if you like playing with fire you have a little time left.
November 30, 2007
Holiday orders are shipping briskly! Most of the initial rush from last week is out the door and winging its way to you on gingerbread clouds, or something. Orders containing the limited-edition 2008 calendars will begin shipping early next week, as we print them. At the moment there are plenty of calendars still available, but it is a limited item and I do expect them to sell out eventually.
Do you know about Wondermark Lite? It contains the exact same comics and news posts, but it's hosted on Blogspot with very few graphics, so it may be convenient for users on dialup connections. The main Wondermark RSS feed points over there as well. (Mainly that's because I don't know how to program RSS feeds on my own, so I let Blogger do it.) Anyway now you know!
November 27, 2007
I've done a guest "Book Club" for the comic Unshelved. It is rather colorful!
HOLIDAY DEADLINE REMINDERS: Please place domestic U.S. orders by December 9th; please make international orders ASAP.
November 23, 2007
Hey, Americans! Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving -- or, as our foreign friends call it, Thursday. I also hope you like my new stickers, now available in the store:
November 20, 2007
I am extremely excited to welcome you to the Wondermark Holiday Store! I've released several new greeting cards, including a first-ever Chanukah card. Also, all shirts are now available in ladies' sizes. I've redesigned the Revolution shirt, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. And, for the first time, I'm offering some premium items -- custom framed poster prints, and limited-edition desk calendars, hand-screenprinted by my wife and me. The writer's strike has shut down a lot of production here in Hollywood, and I'm one of the many folks whose regular work has dried up somewhat -- so I'm excited to pour my energy into great holiday gifts for you instead. Hope you enjoy!
Also, today marks the 31st and final chapter of Dispatches from Wondermark Manor, Volume II. The entire novel is online for you to read, and it will remain online until I revise the manuscript in preparation for a collected edition (probably early next year). Now's a great time to pick up Volume I and catch up with the story!
P.S. SHIPPING DEADLINES -- for domestic shipping inside the U.S., please try to get your Christmas orders in by December 9th! As for international orders -- uh, I wouldn't waste much time. It's hard to tell how long it'll take, so order as early as you can. Thanks!
P.P.S. I almost forgot! Awesome new sticker-paks too!
November 16, 2007
Things always take longer than you think, so the store will be updated with new stuff for the holidays NEXT week.
November 13, 2007
Training video from The World's Fifth-Largest Evil Organization:
November 9, 2007
Eric Fiala is bicycling from Alaska to Argentina to raise awareness of autism. He's been riding since June and is currently here in California. Eric's a good friend of one of my good friends, and I wish him the best! He's posting journals and photos of his trip at anticompass.com.
Also, next week I'm launching a metric crapton of new merchandise! GET READY
November 6, 2007
Look what I found hanging around on my hard drive from three years ago! Let it never be said that I am a dude averse to putting unflattering pictures of himself on the internet.
Also, a reminder that Radiation shirts are $3-CASH-BACK until my stock is exhausted! 2XL sizes are already sold out.
November 2, 2007
Here is another piece of video backstory for my upcoming movie:
October 30, 2007
I have a new website for my upcoming movie! I have been working on this film for way too long. But now you can check it out! Here's a sneak peek:
Also: I was interviewed for Wizard Magazine's online webcomics column, Cursory Conversations. READ IT
October 26, 2007
Guys I am seriously in love with BookMooch. I had a shelf full of books I couldn't figure out how to get rid of -- you can't sell most books for any worthwhile amount of money, and I couldn't bring myself to throw them away. Within an hour of posting 22 titles on BookMooch, 17 of them were spoken for: requested by strangers, to whom I'll send the books in the mail. In return, I get "points" that I can redeem for other books from other strangers. If this works out, I may never have to buy books again.
October 23, 2007
I am having a clean-off-my-shelves-before-the-holidays sale! From now until my stock is exhausted, if you purchase one of my Radiation shirts, I will promptly refund you three dollars. It is a CRAZY CASH BACK SALE! The offer is good for Radiation shirts and 3-shirt comboes that include any number of Radiation shirts. If your size is sold out by the time you purchase, I will happily refund your money (or, if you like, send you a different shirt).
Oh and one other thing! If you want to use "this guy" to help propagate future memes, have at him.
October 19, 2007
Yates sums up the SPX experience nicely (with the promise of more to come), and also links to a video of the Achewood/Chris Onstad acceptance speech at the Ignatz Awards. I fully expect this video to win some kind of award of its own, in the same way that the telecast of the Oscars is itself eligible for an Emmy.
October 16, 2007
I had a really great time at SPX! Thank you to everyone who came to the show; it was a pleasure meeting you all. Achewood won the Ignatz Award, but that's fine because Achewood is a great comic. Plus, a gorilla who may have been Chris Onstad accepted the award, so that's hard to beat.
Dresden Codak finally has a brief wrap-up of our Portland appearance last month, as does Yates. Camille caught me napping as well.
In delightful news, I have a short story featured this week on the horror-fiction podcast Pseudopod! I actually wrote the story a while ago for a competition (and won an award for it), but never mentioned it because it couldn't be read online. Now you can listen to the talented Dani Cutler read it aloud. It, uh, differs a bit from the normal tone of Wondermark.
Speaking of podcasts, I mentioned before that you can hear me on the current episode of Webcomics Weekly, but failed to add that you can listen online or download the MP3 without having to subscribe to the podcast: it's "Episode 10" on this page. I was recovering from a bad cold on the day we recorded, so if I sound murky or addled, that's what I'm going to blame it on.
October 11, 2007
Early comic this week -- I'm off to Maryland. Listen for me on this Friday's episode of the Webcomics Weekly podcast!
October 9, 2007
I am going to harp on this point for as long as it takes. Come to SPX and vote for the Ignatz Awards! We will look something like this.
Oh and also tell me what you think about two new shirt designs I came up with.
October 5, 2007
Chris is back with more photocomickal amazement in Reprographics 2: Electric Boogaloo! I have been instructed to expect at least 83% more breakdancing from my fine Coloradan colleague. You can come see us both in Bethesda, Maryland at the Small Press Expo, October 12-13! We will have hands down the most amazing table of all time. Within a mere 18 feet of table-space, you will be able to see:
Nick "should I bring a hamster?" Gurewitch, of The Perry Bible Fellowship;
Bernie "sleepless in new jersey" Hou, of Alien Loves Predator;
Aaron "at no time will i remove my vest-coat" Diaz, of Dresden Codak;
as well as the regular me-Chris-Colleen lineup.
Please come to the show! We are trying to rock the vote for Wondermark in the Ignatz Awards, which are determined by ballots cast at the show itself. The Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center is really not that far out of your way! I don't know where you live but I am just assuming.
October 2, 2007
Thanks to everyone who came out to Portland! We had a great time and hung out with cool folks. I think others will have con recaps later in the week, so I'll link appropriately then. But in the meantime there is this! It is Darth Vader with his dialogue replaced by lines from Coming to America, and it is quite amusing.
September 28, 2007
If you like humorous short films done in a wildly exaggerated but clever style, then I recommend checking out The Duncan Brothers!
And of course if you like comics I recommend coming to the Stumptown Comics Fest this weekend in Portland, Oregon. My book Treachery! is nominated for a Stumptown Trophy Award in the "Outstanding Writing" category -- please come show your support!
September 25, 2007
If you like -- or even have a passing familiarity with -- PostSecret and LOLcats then I am afraid you have to check out lolsecretz.
And another reminder: I am in Portland this weekend! Come to the show! Or, uh, else.
September 21, 2007
Dispatches from Wondermark Manor Vol. II, my epic prose epic, is chugging right along in my twice-weekly newsletter! I realized that it was sort of dumb to penalize people for coming in halfway through the story, so here are the past chapters in case you want to catch up (or read online without the newsletter -- new chapters will be posted until the book is done). If you missed Vol. I, it's available here in the store!
Also, here is a video I made for a school project over six years ago. Hopefully it is still slightly entertaining.
One more thing -- I'll be in Portland, OR for the Stumptown Comics Fest next weekend! Come and see me and Chris!
September 18, 2007
A couple quick links for today:
1. I did an interview a while back for Illiterate Magazine in Boulder. It never went online, but I've gotten permission to scan the article. Page 1 / Page 2
2. My friend Eric wrote an article for Slate about the nature of vigilante movies, and he continues the topic at his blog.
September 14, 2007
Wondermark has been nominated for an Ignatz Award! This is very flattering, and I am up against some unbelievably great competition, so I feel comfortable labeling myself a "ridiculous underdog." Thank you very much to the jury for this considerable honor.
Now, here's the thing about the Ignatz Awards: once the nominees are announced, the final awards are determined by the votes of attendees at the Small Press Expo. In practice, because the voters can't possibly have read all the nominated comics (especially those that aren't online), they just look over the paper ballots and make checks next to the titles they've actually heard of. In other words, Achewood is going to win.
Which is fine, because Achewood is great, but...if I can get enough people who've actually heard of Wondermark to show up at SPX, we might have a chance of making a decent showing. So if, come the second weekend in October, you're within about a hundred miles of Bethesda, MD -- please come join the valiant underdog struggle! I'll have convention- exclusive mini-comics!
I will say it again because I am serious. Please come to SPX next month!
(Also! Boulderites! Chris Yates Studios Open House this weekend! Say I sent ya, and Chris will give you a free sigh of resignation!)
September 11, 2007
I have decided to quit the Comic Strip Doctor gig. As much fun as the columns were to write, I think people took them way too seriously. Anyway, I have written a final farewell column and it is right here.
It's easy to say something snarky about pop culture and attract a lot of attention. It's harder to make the culture in the first place. But ultimately I think it's more satisfying creatively.
Speaking of making things, if you're in the Boulder, Colorado area, make a point this weekend to stop by the Chris Yates Studios Open House and check out cool handmade toys and puzzles! Support a local artist! Or, punch Chris in the face. Whatever gets you in the door.
September 7, 2007
I want to talk about advertising. I have a new, single ad box, replacing the four button ads and the banner that used to be on every comic page. Now as far as graphical ads go, it's just the one box, 234 x 60 pixels, for the entire site. I'm not really interested in cluttering up the whole site with ads -- I'm one of very few comics in my viewership-bracket without a big leaderboard across the top, and it's on purpose -- but I do want you to take advantage of this single ad box, and here's why.
The money earned from advertising doesn't go towards paying my hosting fees, or buying old books to scan, or even my health insurance. It goes directly towards the cost of convention tables at shows like MoCCA in New York, SPX in Maryland, Stumptown in Portland, STAPLE! in Austin, and APE in San Francisco. (And next year we'll be adding new shows in at least Seattle and San Diego.) Conventions are our chance to connect personally with fans and colleagues, to leave the routine of our daily lives and hit the road for a weekend or a week, saying hello to old friends, shaking hands with people who come to the show, and sometimes making ridiculous movies for you to enjoy. As much as I like the Internet, from day one I have never considered it anything more than a means to an end -- the real benefit is in meeting individuals, real, flesh-and-blood people on the other end of the wires, with their own stories and their own loves and hates and relationships. Conventions are where those connections happen.
But these shows are not cheap. A booth at San Diego costs a minimum of fifteen hundred dollars. Add to that the costs of lodging, food, and travel -- I usually fly commercial, with books and t-shirts stuffed into bulging suitcases; Chris drives his Passat cross-country to every show, packed to the gills with hand-made toys and sculptures. So we offer the advertising space as a way to help defray these significant costs, while at the same time offering an opportunity for ordinary people to gain exposure for their own projects and labors of love - webcomics, small businesses, bands, and creative individuals of every stripe.
And it is a good opportunity: last month Wondermark attracted 160,091 unique visitors who accumulated 1,439,198 pageviews. So it's a good venue for your message, and I hope that advertising on my site does well for you.
But also, a word to the audience. The people who do buy ads on this site do so presumably because they like the comic. If you're here because you like the comic, then you have something in common with them. Won't you spend a click to see what they have to offer?
Thanks for your support!
September 4, 2007
For further Comic-Con video goodness, check out this interesting video in which the Con's ubiquitous stormtroopers, superheroes and other cosplayers answer the question "What's your day job?"
August 31, 2007
A great while back, for Ryan North's Whispered Apologies project, I wrote dialogue to accompany a painting by Romantic from Perfect Stars. Whispered Apologies is gone for the moment, so the collaborative comic (which you may have seen before) has now become part of the permanent Perfect Stars archive, here. If you've never browsed through Perfect Stars before, it's really a beautiful visual treat.
August 28, 2007
Some unforseen factors have caused a delay in shipping Dispatches from Wondermark Manor, so to those who haven't received their copy yet, I apologize. Hopefully all pending orders will be sent out within the week. Thanks for your understanding!
August 24, 2007
Thanks, everyone, for the emails and kind feedback about the documentary. To answer some of the common questions:
1. Yes, I am really flying that plane. Yes, I landed at the San Diego International Airport, sandwiched in between a couple of big jets. No, I did not build the plane myself.
2. Yes, I really shouted at Stan Lee.
3. No, there will not be a DVD. Feel free to download the (relatively) hi-res QuickTime if you like, but I won't be selling this piece in any form. It may, however, show up at film festivals (if I'm lucky), and if that happens I will mention it here. It's also on YouTube and MySpace if you want to spread the love.
4. Yes, if you live in L.A. or thereabouts, you can totally come flying with me! I'm always looking for reasons/excuses. Consider this an open invitation. (Offer not valid if you're creepy or something.)
August 21, 2007
My documentary is done. You can watch it here or here. I worked pretty hard on it. I hope you enjoy it!
August 17, 2007
The documentary is nearly complete, but Gary over at Fleen had an excellent inadvertent suggestion, so I have indeed commissioned an original song from master tunesmith Kristofer Straub. The piece will premiere when it is done. It will be so worth the extra wait.
August 14, 2007
My epic documentary slash tragic love story Me vs. Comic-Con: Who's Better? will premiere on Friday! You guys are going to love this stunning piece of cinema, in which comics luminaries go shockingly on the record serving up the real dish on the relative qualities of me vs. the world's largest pop culture convention. Teaser: two separate people say that I'm hairier.
August 10, 2007
Dispatches from Wondermark Manor, Vol. I is now on sale, as is the new "The Revolution Will Not be Telegraphed" shirt!
You can download the first ten pages of the Dispatches as a PDF if you want to get the flavor of the thing. The book is very nicely printed by E.C. Printing, whom I heartily recommend if you have any projects that involve book printing!
August 7, 2007
I'm a pilot, and I like airplanes and stuff about airplanes. I worked a bit on the marketing for the movie Flyboys, but despite the fact that they used some cool original and replica World War I biplanes, I just couldn't get into the whole "CGI swooping through the wing-struts" deal. Plus it was a pretty dumb story. So I was pleased to stumble across a movie called Dark Blue World, about Czech pilots who flew for the British during WWII. It has a little corny CGI (as there are very few B-24s still flying), but overall it's a very watchable, very nuanced piece of cinema. I definitely recommend adding it to your Netflix queue or setting your TiVo for the next time it plays on IFC.
Also the Dispatches from Wondermark Manor book goes on sale Friday! As does a new t-shirt!
August 3, 2007
Dorothy over at Cat and Girl has just completed an amazing project: she has illustrated all 320 (I think) categories in the Schedule C Principal Business or Professional Activity Codes Table. This is the sort of perfect combination of cleverness and pointlessness that I dig. At one point I wanted to make an art project out of illustrating every character in the Bible -- through all the "begats" and everything -- but alas.
Hey here is a random note. Emily Stuart who emailed me with the subject line "SPX 2008"? I deleted your message by accident! Send it again please! MY COMPUTER THOUGHT IT WAS SPAM I AM SORRY
if it was really spam I guess you don't have to re-send it
July 31, 2007
I had a blast at Comic-Con, and I even got to see quite a few fans, which was a nice surprise, considering I didn't have a booth or anything. Of especial note: the delightful Tod and Corey Marie of Young American Comics, who are making some really cool collaborative books that offer themed "challenges" for artists to fulfill. They are good people doing good things, and if you are at all interested in indie comics, I recommend you check them out!
Also, it's official: next year we will be there, in San Diego, in full exhibitor effect. WE ALREADY PUT IN THE FORM. WE CAN'T TAKE IT BACK. I don't know, maybe we can. But we ain't gonna.
Much of my time at the Con was spent shooting footage for a documentary tentatively titled Malki ! vs. Comic-Con: Who's Better? (Everyone Says It's Me), although the name may change as I tally the results of the many highly scientific surveys I conducted. The piece is, as we say in the biz, "currently in post-production."
Newsletter subscribers today received Chapter 1 of Dispatches from Wondermark Manor, Volume II: Voyage from Wondermark Manor. To sign up for short stories (and, of course, comics) in your email, use the form just over to the right. I think all of the Dispatches volumes will be titled in the style of the Planet of the Apes franchise.
July 27, 2007
As many of you know, for most of this year I wrote strange little stories to accompany my email newsletter. (Here is an example.) I've been on a summer hiatus, but am pleased to announce that starting with Tuesday's update, I will begin Volume II of Dispatches from Wondermark Manor. Over time the Dispatches grew from silly little nothings into a sprawling adventure serial -- but Volume II will be a great jumping-on point for new readers, because I'm going to try my darndest to keep this next set of stories short and (relatively) self-contained. If you're interested in reading the Dispatches, just sign up for the email newsletter, over on the right, there. It's comics and stories delivered to your inbox fresh twice weekly! What could be better.
BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE. If you missed out on Volume I of the Dispatches, never fear:
Thirty-one chapters, 129 pages, available for purchase next month.
July 25, 2007
Bonus comic today folks!
July 24, 2007
If you're going to the San Diego Comic-Con, you already know about it. If you're not, it won't do me any good to tell you about it. I'll be wandering around over the weekend - maybe I'll see you there! Or, maybe I won't.
July 20, 2007
Remember back at comic #300, when I said that because of a bunch of guest comics, #319 would be the ACTUAL 300th comic by me? Well, here it is!
Also I should announce with great pomp and fanfare the FINAL LINEUP for the Machine of Death book edited by Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo and myself! I could blather on about it, but it's really easier just to read about it at machineofdeath.net. If you are interested in further updates, that site has an RSS feed and an email list which I encourage you to subscribe to!
Also: for all you publishers out there: would you like to publish a book of short stories?
July 17, 2007
Here are some cool things for you to watch! My friend Tim wrote and directed a spoof called Welcome Back, Potter. Also, there is this brilliant old Sesame Street bit featuring a proto-Cookie Monster. There! Now you are a well-rounded person.
July 13, 2007
So it looks like I won't be making yellow trailer shirts after all. That's okay! Sometimes it is nice to have a sense of the market before investing any capital. Thanks very much to the brave souls who did contribute to the cause; if you haven't yet gotten your refund, please let me know. I will send you guys something special in the mail anyway!
Also check out this YouTube video about spiders on drugs! It is called "Spiders on Drugs."
July 10, 2007
Here's a neat site: Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools, which is a blog of neat little gadgets, gizmos and handy items for everyday (or highly specialized) use. I especially like the awesome stuff that I've never heard of before, like the grease blotter for cooking. Check out the category list on the left -- now there's way too much stuff I want to buy.
July 6, 2007
I carry around a Moleskine notebook to jot ideas and sketches down in, and once in a while I get the crazy idea that I should just make a whole notebook into a single, long comic. Well, the truth is that I wouldn't be very good at it -- but Dirk Schwieger has done a fantastic job of just that, with his life-in-Japan journal comic Moresukine. Highly recommended.
July 3, 2007
I'm back home! New York and Boston were great fun. Orders from the store will resume shipping today. The pre-orders for the yellow trailer shirt will continue until next Tuesday, which will determine whether I can actually make the shirt or not -- so far I've had a few orders, but not quite enough to justify a print run. If you like it, this is the week to buy it!
If you don't like it, I guess that is okay too.
Also -- this is the most random thing ever, but I'm looking for someplace in L.A. or Ventura County where we can blow up a miniature building for my movie. A big parking lot with nothing flammable nearby would be ideal. We'd need it for about four hours this weekend.
Do you have such a place? Email me please!
June 29, 2007
I am in Boston this week! It is eight million degrees outside. I had no idea that Paul Revere once lived on the surface of the sun.
Totally unrelated to that, my good friend Eric Lichtenfeld has written a book all about action movies, tracing the evolution of the genre from Westerns to Dirty Harry up through Arnold & Sly all the way to the present. And this week, he's written an article for Slate, exploring the phenomenon of the "one-liner" in considerable depth. Check it out here.
June 25, 2007
Early comic this week, as I'm still in NY with spotty internet. FIGURED YOU WOULDN'T MIND
Thanks to everyone who came out to the most-excellent MoCCA Art Festival! It is always a great experience meeting fans, winning over new fans, and fielding bizarre inquiries from people who have no idea what I am doing or why I would do it. I always bring one of my old 19th-century books for display and without fail I get someone who couldn't care less about comics but who wants to buy the old book. Sorry dude, it's not for sale! But thanks for the dirty looks, I will add them to my collection.
I hung out with the usual hardy folks but here are a few that I normally don't say much about: Chris and Kent from the fabulous Dr. McNinja were gracious party hosts; Rosemary from the lovely Bird and Moon was a swell subway companion; and Josh the hilarious Comics Curmudgeon is a fine substitute while you are waiting for your Comic Strip Doctor fix. See you guys next year!
June 22, 2007
I am in New York! Come visit the MoCCA Art Festival on Saturday and/or Sunday. There are many people here you would be interested to meet -- I GUARANTEE IT.
June 19, 2007
A few items of note today! First, I thought it might be interesting to show you how comics like today's bag o' wonderment are actually made. I do have a collection of genuine old books from the 19th century, and probably around 90% of the comics I make these days do not include any commercial clip-art at all (although sometimes I'll pull out the Dover books if I'm looking for a specific hat or chair or something). Here's me making today's comic:
Moving on to a totally different subject, it seems that the Motion Picture Association of America -- that body that assigns movie ratings and clears movie advertising for content (hence green-band and red-band trailers) -- has instituted a new, yellow-band rating specifically for Internet trailers. The idea is that yellow-band trailers are kinda racy or violent, but not quite "adults-only" -- in the MPAA's view, older teens can be allowed to see yellow-band trailers, but nobody younger. The obvious problem is, how do you enforce that? And the answer is, you don't.
Nobody expects it to be enforced. See, studios have been putting unrated trailers online for years, totally bypassing the MPAA system -- and the MPAA couldn't have that. So now they're sticking their nose onto the Internet with a wildly ineffectual measure just so they can say they're a necessary step in the advertising process. Oh, and let's not forget that they're Making Things Safe For Kids too. Gah -- it's a classic example of institutional inertia: doing things that don't need to be done, just so the people who do those things can justify the existence of their jobs.
The moral of the story is, I now have yellow-band trailer shirts available for pre-order:
Lastly -- I'm actually leaving for the New York convention on Thursday, so tomorrow (Wednesday) is the ACTUAL last day to order stuff before I'm gone for a few weeks.
June 15, 2007
I'll be in New York for the MoCCA Arts Festival next weekend, but an important footnote is that I won't be returning home until early July. Thus, no shirts or books or anything will ship out between June 22nd and July 2nd. If this impacts your gifting plans in any way, please consider placing any orders by next
June 12, 2007
As you may know I've been making a movie for a while, and it's getting real close to being done. After the New York show next weekend I hope to have the time to start posting some trailers and clips online. But right now I'm asking for a little bit of help -- there are some special effects shots that we're trying to finish, and I'm running out of hours in the day. Are you good at rotoscoping and compositing in After Effects or Shake? Or photo-realistic matte painting? Drop me an email if you're interested in helping out on the project, or want some more info! (If you don't know what any of that means you can just smile and nod and back away slowly.)
June 8, 2007
The LA Weekly has an interesting article this week about Ray Bradbury. I met Mr. Bradbury once, years ago. He slapped my face tenderly and that is a 100% true story.
Also apparently Fahrenheit 451 is not about censorship. Shhh he gets mad
June 5, 2007
A Public Service Announcement: if you're not reading The Non-Adventures of Wonderella by my good friend Justin Pierce, you are missing out on pretty much everything that life has to offer.
June 1, 2007
As promised! Check out the two new shirts and four new cards in the store. Also new: multi-shirt packs and multi-bumper sticker packs.
May 29, 2007
This Friday, June 1st, there will be a couple of changes in the store -- firstly, I'll have several nifty new goods for you; secondly, thanks to the newly increased postal rates, prices will have to shift a bit. If you want to get anything before the rates change, you have until Friday!
Also: Jon Rosenberg spawned a creature! To help celebrate this improbable occurrence I have contributed a guest strip to Goats.
May 25, 2007
One month from now I'll be in New York for the MoCCA art festival, along with many neat folks from across the globe. I'll remind you again as the date draws near, but if you're anywhere within a furlong or two of Manhattan, mark your calendars now for the weekend of June 23-24!
May 22, 2007
Here is a link to an audio documentary of sorts, comprised of interviews recorded at the APE show in San Francisco! At minute 35 in the program you will find an interview with me and my girlish lilt, in which I speak largely about the nuts and bolts of webcomics. It sounds like I am rambling on at great length, which is partially true, but my massive run-on sentences are also due to intermittent questions, pauses, and awkward come-ons having been brutally edited out.
There are also tons of other great interviews in the piece, most notably Keith Knight (K-Chronicles), Gene Yang (American Born Chinese), Shannon Wheeler (Too Much Coffee Man), and Steven Notley (Bob the Angry Flower).
May 18, 2007
Here is a cool comic you should check out: Nobody Scores, which has a breezy style that I really dig!
May 15, 2007
This is comic #300, which is pretty cool! Due to last year's Guest Month it is really only the 281st regular comic by me, so maybe we will have a party around comic #319 or so.
Also, here is a fun new thing! I have moved the "random comic" button up to replace the "first comic" button. ENJOY
May 11, 2007
Guys you can stop wasting your time searching. I have found it: the single best YouTube video ever.
May 8, 2007
Hey if you would like to read some very pretty comics I recommend checking out Dresden Codak! I had the chance to chill a bit with Aaron at the APE con a few weeks ago and found him to be quite the dapper fellow.
May 4, 2007
Recently, I wrote an essay for the magazine AOPA Pilot about earning my pilot's license. The piece was reprinted online (with permission) by a small school newsletter, and you can read it if you like!
May 1, 2007
Thanks to everyone who submitted stories for Machine of Death! Ryan, Matt and I continue to be amazed at the volume of the response. We received nearly seven hundred submissions totaling well over two million words, and we certainly have our work cut out for us. Submitters will be notified starting in
April 27, 2007
This Monday is the deadline for Machine of Death submissions! Midnight Pacific time on April 30 is the final, total, ultimate deadline beyond which THERE IS NO RECKONING.
Also, April 25th probably doesn't mean much to you, but it marks four years since the first ten Wondermark strips were posted online. If I have any advice at all to offer aspiring webcomickers, it basically comes down to that -- start off with no less than ten strips. Everything else can be extrapolated from that concept if you think hard enough about it.
Thanks for hanging out with me, guys. It's fun.
April 24, 2007
Thanks to everyone who came out to APE! I had a great time meeting you and taking your money. Seriously, it is always a trip for me to put faces and voices to website traffic stats and I thank you for all of your kindness and support.
Here are some great online comics you can enjoy! I'll probably post more later as I work through my stack of swag, but some good places to start would be Joe Sayers, Julia Wertz, and my Onion-mate Shannon Wheeler, who has been making comics for longer than I have been making armpit hair.
Meredith, our lovely and genial San Francisco host, also introduced me and Yates to the work of Jason Shiga, and we were both positively blown away. Later, I was astounded and overjoyed to find TONS of his work online for free reading -- if you have an hour you want to fly by like nothing, I recommend you click this and don't look back.
Finally: to everyone whom I creeped out, I'm sorry. To everyone who creeped ME out, you are forgiven.
April 20, 2007
Item #1 - Come visit me in San Francisco this weekend at the APE convention!
Item #2 - If you live near Boulder/Fort Collins, Colorado, find yourself a copy of this month's Illiterate Magazine -- there's a swell interview with me near the back.
Item #3 - Johnny Hart, the creator of B.C., died about two weeks ago. I didn't mention it at the time, but what nobody seemed to notice is that Brant Parker -- his collaborator on The Wizard of Id -- also died, last week. Both Id (which has been helmed by Parker's son since 1997) and B.C. will continue to run in papers; in the latter case we will soon be treated to that magic synergy that occurs when lame gag writers combine with "a database of imagery from past years of the strip."
Reducing any hand-drawn comic strip to a mindless cut-and-paste job is bad in itself, but especially when the mind behind the strip was so distinctive. Not that I always agreed with B.C. or even particularly enjoyed it -- in fact I wouldn't miss it at all if it disappeared -- but to think that the strip can just seamlessly continue is insulting both to the original artist and to the other creators who're denied a shot at the paper because of it.
And, of course, if the strip is so independent of the personal vision of a singular creator that it CAN continue seamlessly even without his hand at the wheel, well, that's all the more reason that it shouldn't.
April 17, 2007
Today marks the beginning of a rather long and slow process of gradually cleaning up and posting online some of my older film work. Here are a couple of spec commercials I made about five years ago, trying out a Soviet-era Krasnogorsk 16mm film camera I picked up secondhand from some creepy guy. (Still have the camera if anyone wants to buy it.) I never decided which spot I liked better so I just kept 'em both.
Spot #1 / Spot #2
Also, mark your calendars for the APE convention in San Francisco this weekend! I'll be there with THREE new T-shirts (which will go on sale online once I get back home). Also, Yates and I will be giving out free high fives (while supplies last) as per usual.
April 13, 2007
Kurt Vonnegut is dead. So it goes. Here is a track of him reading a selection from Slaughterhouse Five, set to music by parties unknown -- I like the music, personally, but if you don't there is also an unaltered version here.
April 10, 2007
My friend and colleague Bernie from Alien Loves Predator has a newish project called The Burgg, which is sort of like Pictionary if you played it online with strangers and the category was always "movie titles". It's pretty cool! The idea is, you guess what movies people are trying to draw a scene from, or you draw your own and let other people guess. There's even a (quite clever) provision to ensure you don't spell stuff wrong when you guess. Like the finest pharmaceuticals, it's addictive and entertaining both. THE BURGG
April 6, 2007
This is a pretty niche thing, but I wrote some parody articles in the style of the Hollywood trade paper Variety that might be amusing to some of you. They can be found right over here.
April 3, 2007
Wayne has become the first person to submit an entry for the Playground Ghosts Reverse Psychology Convention Theme Song Challenge -- you can listen to his submission here.
Think you can do better? Well, what's stopping you?
March 30, 2007
Tomorrow is the early deadline for submissions to the
Machine of Death story collection! Don't worry - the final deadline isn't for another month yet (April 30), and we will give full consideration to every story submitted before then.
But after April 30, CLANG! The gates come down and you are ACED OUT. You've only got four weeks left, so get (or keep) writing!
March 27, 2007
Check out this spam I got:
FROM: "Milford Quintero"
SUBJECT: "anti-spammers are lamers"
MESSAGE: "regards, spammer."
true story!
March 23, 2007
I think you should see the Top 15 Unintentionally Funny Comic Panels, submitted to me by my friend Dave. It is, as claimed, funny. That is all.
March 20, 2007
My good friend Mike Mohan recently directed a series of eight short comedy films for AtomFilms.com. They're called Casual Encounters and they're based on that creepy section of Craigslist. They are not what I might call "safe for all ages" but if you are so inclined you can watch them all right here!
Also: I helped with one of them, but I'm not saying which.
March 16, 2007
My friend Dave pointed me to this very cool video of an elaborate Rube Goldberg device. But another thing that's interesting is that the creators of the device are using the clip to promote their skills as viral marketers. You can use their "marketing videos" to "increase awareness of your brand." I have nothing against advertising, per se -- it's how I earn my living -- but it seems to me that there's something fundamentally backwards about setting out to create a "viral video" and then hunting for a message to attach to it.
I just saw another website where a kid is trying to get people to buy his (really awful) original art on eBay with the straight-faced promise that "the more you buy, the more chances you'll have to win a big cash prize that I'll pay out once you all make me rich." There seems to be no shortage of people online who are dying for the chance to sell out. But putting a price on any sort of online entertainment is problematic, because the audience will always have free alternatives. Trying to sell out before anyone's buying is putting the cart miles before the horse. But I guess you don't need to convince everyone -- you just need to convince one dumb marketing executive with deep pockets, or failing that, GoldenPalace.com.
March 13, 2007
Hrishikesh Hirway, a.k.a. The One A.M. Radio, is an acquaintance of mine (my friend Mike directed a music video for him), and I really love his music. His new album This Too Will Pass can be streamed in its entirety online. Click on over and listen for free - I think it's great.
March 9, 2007
Recently I was asked, "Where do you get your ideas?" This was my answer.
Also, I met the creator of Girls With Slingshots at STAPLE! last weekend, and I really dig her comic! You should check it out.
March 6, 2007
Austin was great! Our Project Wonderful ad revenue covered the entire cost of the convention table. (Thank you, advertisers! Everyone click on the ads please.)
Colleen has some pictures from the show if you want to see pictures. Also there is this song that we wrote. But as far as "music" goes, I think you can do a better job than I did, and in fact I formally urge you to do so. Details at the link.
March 2, 2007
Guys if you like cool action stuffs then you have to watch Ryan Vs Dorkman 2. It is about the best lightsaber fight I've ever seen, and I've seen all the Star Wars movies plus some YouTube thing with eleven-year-olds in a yard.
RvD2 plays pretty well on YouTube but if you can manage the full-rez hi-def version it will blow you away.
I'm leaving for Austin in a few hours! See you at the show.
February 27, 2007
This weekend kicks off the convention season for the year! See you in Austin on Saturday. I'll have at least one new shirt design with me, maybe more! And if you come up to me and say the secret password "HUCKLEBERRY", I will totally give you a high-five right there on the spot in front of everyone.
February 23, 2007
Two things I've had open in my browser for a couple weeks, waiting for a chance to post: "Unchopping a Tree" and "Departures", both by authors whose other work I'll have to hunt down. I found both selections by following a trail of links that started at McSweeney's.
Speaking of short bursts of prose, subscribers to the Wondermark twice-weekly newsletter have been receiving "Dispatches from Wondermark Manor", a new series by me that tackles the pressing issues of the day. For the sake of convenience I'll just link here to show you an example. To subscribe to the newsletter and receive the comics and the Dispatches in your inbox twice a week, simply sign up on this page (to the right, there).
February 20, 2007
I have a guest column up at Fleen, the webcomic news and reviews site, entitled "Comics is Killing Webcomics." Gary, Fleen's editor, refers to me as an "established, respected creator," and I don't have the heart to correct him!
February 16, 2007
If you like the comic xkcd then you might also like this: Indexed. If you don't like xkcd, are you sure you're on the internet?
Also, a reminder about scraps of crap, the site where I post drawings and sketches and stuff from both myself and you!
February 13, 2007
Ryan Vs. Dorkman was a Star Wars fan film from a few years ago that I quite enjoyed (and I wasn't alone). So I was pleased to learn that the highly-anticipated sequel is having an honest-to-goodness premiere here in Beverly Hills on February 24th. I'm going to do my best to attend, because I love seeing home-brewed ingenuity at work - bucking the system as it were - especially as it applies to movie special effects.
February 9, 2007
If you're a BoingBoing reader this is old news, but friend-of-the-show Chris Yates has devised a simplified, subway-style interstate map of the continental United States. Check it out, buy a print, and be sure to point out to him exactly where he overly-simplified or misplaced an intersection! He