blog: appearances

Next week: San Diego Comic-Con!

can't really onomatopoeia the MIDI fanfare

The biggest comic convention of the year is next week. By now, you’re either going or not; tickets have been sold out for months. So…

IF YOU’RE IN THE AREA BUT CAN’T COME TO THE CON

Come to the TopatoCo/Dr. McNinja book release party next Wednesday night at San Diego’s Rock Bottom Brewery! It’s free to attend, and a ton of cool cartoonist folks will be there so you’ll have a chance to say hello and chat. Chris will be signing copies of his newest Dr. McNinja book Operation Dracula! From Outer Space, and I’ll be there trying desperately to look as cool as Chris. Details here, Facebook thing here, or just order the book online.

IF YOU WILL BE ATTENDING THE CON

First, it goes without saying that you should come to the Wednesday night book release party too. But also, stop by my table at the show! I’m listed with the “Dayfree Press” gang in the directory (not under my own name) but don’t even worry about that because my booth number is super-easy to remember: 1231. Say it with me. 1-2-3. Then put a 1 on there.

OR, just go to booth 1234 and look behind you. Those chumps are right across the aisle.

Even easier: print out this handy Commemorative Sketch Blank and bring it to me at the show! I’ll put a fun drawing in that guy for free, and there’s even a little map in the corner so you don’t even have to remember the booth number. WHAT COULD BE UNDER THAT HAT???

click me to have fun

At my booth I’ll have: all three strip collections and all three Dispatches books; “Beards” and “Futurism” posters; stickers; comic prints; and Revolution and Steam Powered shirts… plus this brand new baby that’ll be debuting at the Con (click for bigger):

how diligent of you

Based, of course, on this. (The shirt will be available for online ordering in about two weeks.)

IF YOU WILL BE NOWHERE NEAR SAN DIEGO

Well, it’ll be less crowded where you are. Regardless of where you are.

BONUS LINK: The image at the top of this post is from my 2007 docu-drama “Me Vs. Comic-Con: Who’s Better?” If you’ve never seen it, if you want a glimpse of what Comic-Con’s like, or even if (like me) you watch it incessantly, take a watch. I think it holds up.

SUPER BONUS: Guys you have to check out the “genre microfiction” that clever people are writing in the comments to the last post.

Introducing the Beard Portrait Booth!

Come to my Clever Tricks to Stave Off Death launch party in Beverly Hills this Wednesday, and experience the Beard Portrait Booth! I’ll have wonderful photographer Noé Montes on hand to help you experience the thrill of beardedness. Have a beard already? Try a new style, or simply accessorize with a fine display of hats and baubles. Perhaps even create a new you. All photos will be posted for the world to admire afterwards. It is a thing that will be tremendous fun!

The party will be from 7-10 PM this Wednesday night, June 17, at the Crescent Hotel — 403 N. Crescent Dr, 90210. Click here for directions or here for a Facebook thingy!

OH AND ALSO — apparently there is another voting round of the “Tweet Me a Story” contest! I am currently in the finals with my succinct tale of a shoddy ninja academy. View the entrants, and vote, here.

Updates! Reminders! Links! THE INTERNET

YOU MUST REMEMBER

— Thank you very much to everyone who voted for me in the “Tweet Me a Story” contest last week! Yesterday I received word that I made it to the FINAL ROUND. Exciting! For the finals, I had to write another story (based on the provided word “tear”) and we shall soon see HOW I FARED.

— This coming Monday is the final day to vote for Eisner nominees! If you’re a comics professional, including a webcomic creator, you are eligible to vote, which you can do right here.

— This coming Wednesday is my Clever Tricks to Stave Off Death release party in Beverly Hills! Here’s the info and here’s a Facebook invite page with all the same info. Come get free sketches, free high-fives, and hugs that cost a dollar. But I pay you for any groping that might occur!

— Finally! A kind chap named John Kenyon asked me some interesting questions, and I answered them. It is called an “interview” and you can read it right here! I like this one, because I asked John to ask me some new questions that I hadn’t been asked before, and he sportingly complied. Representative quote from the exchange: “So what I am saying is that who knew that angry-looking soldier in an 1887 engraving was actually mad at a tiny mischievous triceratops that only he could see?”

I’m in NYC this weekend!

Another brief reminder about the MoCCA Art Festival in Manhattan this very weekend! I’ll have books, posters, and smiles. Come out and say hello!

The show is June 6-7, 11am-6pm both days, at the 69th Regiment Armory at Lexington Avenue and 25th Street. It’s gonna be so great you guys

Eisner nomination! Twitter contest! Podcast! NEW YORK CITY

REALLY

Hey so my book Beards of our Forefathers has been nominated for an Eisner Award this year! The book is up for Best Humor Publication, which is a tremendous honor. If you’re associated with the comics industry at all, you know how big of a deal the Eisners are — and you may even be eligible to vote!

If you’re a comics professional (artist, writer, inker, colorist, letterer); a webcomic creator; a publisher or editor; or you own or manage a comic shop, you ARE eligible.

So if you’ve read Beards of our Forefathers and enjoyed it, please consider casting a vote at eisnervote.com! (Voting closes on June 15.)

tweet me right

Speaking of voting! I’ve participated in a contest called “Tweet Me A Story,” where participants are challenged to write 140-character-or-less stories based on a provided term. The first round of the judging is over, and two of my stories have made it to the finals in my category!

Starting June 2nd at 9am Eastern, the finalists are put up for an audience vote, and the top vote-getters advance to a grand-championship round. Here’s where you can read the top 15 stories in my category and vote for your favorite!

We've got pep!

While we’re talking about Twitter, I want to tell you about a cool new project I’m involved with! My good friend Kris Straub and I are starting a podcast called “Tweet Me Harder.” We’ll stream it live as we record it, so listeners can respond to us in real-time using Twitter — then Kris and I will use the listener comments as springboards for further conversation and raucous comedy hilarity. It’s clearly the future of podcast talkback interpersonal activity audioblasting!

Our first show will be this Wednesday, June 3rd, at 7pm Pacific / 10pm Eastern. The details are here — and even if you can’t tune in live, we’ll post a recording after the show. (It is a podcast, after all.) You can also follow the show on Twitter to stay on top of everything.

LOOK OUT

Lastly — I’ll be in New York this coming weekend for the MoCCA Art Festival! This is one of my favorite shows of the year. It’s in a new location at the 69th Regiment Armory this year, so don’t go to the Puck Building and wonder where everyone’s hiding. Come out and say hello! I’ll be doing mediocre sketches galore. I am talking GALORE.

What a weird word. GALORE.

See you in New York!