Drink Coffee and DESTROY!

So hey internet people! I was supposed to be writing the script for "My Brain Hurts" #9 today. I actually got a little done, but not before a crippling wave of depression swept over me and I couldn't do anything else. But you know what? I drew a thing and it made me feel better. It is a silly thing, sort of a "comic" except it's mostly sketches and talking heads. But you know what? It was really fun to draw something that had no purpose other than the act of creating it. And in the end it kind of made a story! So even though I was like "this is just for fun, no one will see this" by the end I decided I could handle showing it to people. It is all true, stream of consciousness bullshit.

Enjoy!( Gone )

Oh and here is the Bouncing Souls song referenced in the thing:



I sure do loves me some pop punk.

My friend Robin Enrico has been drawing this epic graphic novel about an all-female band called Jam in the Band and it's gonna be out in time for MoCCA! He asked people to draw their favorite female rocker so I drew Adrienne Droogas. She was in a band called Spitboy and also was in Aus-Rotten. I wasn't crazy about Aus-Rotten until Adrienne started singing with them. Her awesomely gritty vocals added a lot of depth to their sound. If you are into political punk at all, their song the Second Rape (which she sang on, and you can hear on their MySpace page) will basically destroy you with awesomeness, anger, and sadness all at once.

The title will make more sense when you read the report. I wrote it on the plane.


me and my brother-from-another-mother, Robin Enrico, at Stumptown (photo courtesy of MK Reed Enterprises Unlimited)

So here I am, sitting on the redeye JetBlue flight from Portland to NYC, the sun is coming up outside my window and there are still stars in the sky. It’s that weird in-between time when it’s not quite dark or light. Anyway, I figured as long as I’m trying to distract myself from the fact that we are 30 some odd thousand miles above the earth and can’t fall asleep, I might as well write up my Stumptown report, eh?



So yeah, the verdict on Stumptown – AWESOME. There was not a single moment in the last four days in Portland that I wished I was anywhere else. Every moment was awesome and amazing and glorious. Portland is an amazing city, and Stumptown is a con that has really come into its own. If Stumptown is in April again next year (which I’ve heard it will be), then I will be coming back, no question.

Alright, there is some turbulence now so I clearly need to get back to thinking really hard about keeping the plane afloat.

Hey all, I will be at ye olde Stumptown Comics Fest this weekend at tables 11-12 with MK Reed and Robin Enrico, Saturday & Sunday. I am also doing a reading at Guapo Comics on Friday night, which is also when the Maisie Kukoc Award presentation will be. I am reading first, at 9pm, so be there on time if you're going! Other people reading are Austin English, Sarah Glidden, Julia Wertz, Rina Ayuyang, Minty Lewis, and Jason Shiga.

I will also have a portable mp3 recorder with me acting as an Indie Spinner Rack field correspondent of sorts, if I can figure out how to work the machine. So don't be surprised if I come up to you with a little black mp3 player and ask you if you'd rather have sex with an ape or Hitler.

Oh and I'll have copies of the new My Brain Hurts #8 with me!

( And with it comes a bunch of photos I stole from other people. )

All in all the con itself was alright. I don't think I'll ever be able to handle having a whole table to myself there, it's just too overwhelming even the few hours I was at other people's tables signing and stuff. I can't imagine being behind the table dealing with the crowds and stuff ALL DAY for THREE DAYS. That's crazy talk. Besides, I don't think the NYCC crowd is really interested in indie stuff so much, and the ones that are I think tend to find me no matter what table I'm at so it works out anyway. I feel like the ISR table was a great sort of meeting point for the indie peeps, seemed like there were always a bunch of awesome folks hanging out there.

Other than that I spent the time at the con eating overpriced funnel cake and crepes and pushing through crowds to get to the bathroom. Saturday night was fun though, after the pizza party. We all went out to the bar (as I mentioned) and had a grand old time. Next year I think I'm gonna opt out of whatever the gigantic podcast eating thing is and just go out for beers with everyone afterwards, since that's always the fun part anyway.

Also I went to Kids in the Hall on Sunday night which was super awesome! Just thought I'd mention that. Some say they haven't aged well but I would totally still do Dave Foley. If I wasn't married I mean (duh). Not that the opportunity would ever present itself.

Hey everybody! Have you heard of the wonderfulness that is 826 NYC? It's this awesome organization, they have a chapter in Brooklyn, They have a ton of amazing free programs for kids and teenagers to help them with their creative and expository writing skills, they have field trips held there, and they have tutoring and stuff. I volunteered for one of their field trips to draw pictures to illustrate the stories the kids wrote, it was a totally amazing experience and I was in awe of how creative and great their programming was! It's hard to describe in just a short paragraph so you should definitely check out the link up there in that first sentence for more information on what they do.

ANYWAY. So they are having this fundraiser thing called Dungeons & Dragons (with Girls!). The way it works is that women play for free (hence the "with Girls!") and men have to pay $25. My husband/manservant Zane is signed up for it. The fundraiser part is that in order for Zane's character to buy magic items for his adventure, he needs some gold coins, and he gets gold coins if people donate through his page! You can also buy specific items for his character (like a lockpicking hamster!) on this page.

So if you want to support an awesome organization (and give Zane some gold coinage for his adventure on May 9th!) head on over to his character's page and donate!

The New York Comic Con is coming up this weekend and I have my signing schedule right here for y’all:

Saturday April 19th - I will be signing at the Friends of Lulu table (which I believe is at the MoCCA table, booth 840) from 11am-12noon, followed by the Indie Spinner Rack table (in the podcast arena) from 1-4pm.

Sunday April 20th - I will be signing at the Friends of Lulu table again from 12-1pm

I will also be rocking out at the Indie Spinner Rack/podcaster fest on Saturday night, which as far as I know will be at John's Pizzeria at 44th St and 8th Avenue - all you can eat pizza, soda, garlic bread, calzones, and salad for $29/person. If you wanna go you better put your name on the list right here.

( voting for the Maisie Kukoc Award for Comics Inspiration begins today, info behind cut )

I promise this is the one and only time I will mention voting for these awards. I just know a lot of people have been asking me about how to vote so I figured I'd put the info up.

Probably my favorite cover yet.



( click for bigger version )

I've been nominated for the Maisie Kukoc Award for Comics Inspiration! I am so totally flattered and flabbergasted... FLATTERGASTED!

Check out the info at this link!

LIFE IS AWESOME!

In other news, I'll probably be posting the cover to the upcoming My Brain Hurts #8 this evening! I drew it yesterday, it's probably my favorite MBH cover thus far!

So many things are afoot at the Circle K. I shall now fill you in on them since I can now. First things first - in one month and two days I will no longer be employed in the usual sense of the word. At that time I will begin both not spending very much money, and drawing comics and illustration full-time. No, I'm not making enough money at it to support myself (yet) but I have been blessed with a husband who is making enough money to support us both (barely, but still) and our major outstanding debts (mainly credit card) are about to be completely paid off, so this enables me to finally quit my job. Hurray! I'm going to draw full-time! I'm so excited! I've been waiting to make a public announcement (meaning you know, not some friends-only super locked post business) because not everyone in my office was aware. But now they are. So yay!

Second - once I am job-free, I shall try and make more time for non-comics drawing. Doodling. Fucking around, you know? I haven't actually DOODLED in an insanely long time. The last time I remember was my Sketch a Character From the Office post on my Flickr, but other than that I seriously don't remember. Virtually everything I draw has some kind of purpose, be it thumbnails or sketches for a finished product, or something. Even the Office Character sketch had a purpose - to post it in the pool! So yesterday I was compelled to draw myself and my friends Spencer and Erica when we went out dancing on Saturday night. I hadn't seen either of them in like ten years until recently so seeing them both two nights in a row inspired me to draw my recollection of the ridiculousness that was dancing in Williamsburg to a shitty DJ who apparently did not know how to scratch with any kind of rhythm or how to, you know, not have a 3 minute long pause in between songs. We had a good ol' time anyways. I omitted the crowd because they were assholes for the most part.




Seeing friends who I haven't really seen since the last time my mom told me I looked like a streetwalker (which I guess means hooker? or homeless person? The latter was more appropriate.) got me thinking about a lot of stuff. Mostly good, some bad, but mostly good. In fact it got me thinking about that Love and Rockets story in the Death of Speedy story arc (ETA: I'm not known for being very observant, I meant "Wigwam Bam") about Maggie and her best friend Letty and how they got into punk rock, and how Letty died, but when she listens to the old records they used to like it reminds her of her friend. Anyway I had been thinking about getting this one panel tattooed on me for a long time and I decided that I will do so before I don't have a job and thus no money. This is the panel, I'm thinking of getting a slightly smaller size on the upper inside part of my left forearm. I thought about getting it on the inside of my upper arm but I really would like to be able to read it. Yeah, it's not really totally comics-related, but it involves a comic. So sue me.



Let's see, what else? I drew this ad for Streetcar Press that is supposed to be in the next issue of Razorcake I think. I am probably gonna draw a revised version when Rustin tells me the changes he wants. This was more of a quickie.



Oh and I'm officially going to be at Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC this June! I don't remember if I posted about that here or not. But I'll be there! I'm a "guest" so hooray! Take a look at the guest list, there's a ton of other great artists going!

Also I am done with My Brain Hurts #8! I just have to draw the cover, lay the shit out, and get it printed. I haven't scanned jack shit since the last time I posted a page here so unfortunately that means I'm not posting another one. Sorry!

Just a short lil heads up that I was recently interviewed by Canada's own Inkstuds internet radio programme and the interview was posted yesterday so be sure and check it out over on the ol' Instuds blog or search for it in the podcast section of your iTunes. That is all!

A reminder about this year's KGB Comic reading coming up this Easter Sunday!

This year, a lotta humor and  a little drama with:

Julia Wertz (Fart Party)
Liz Baillie (My Brain Hurts!)
Sam Henderson (Magic Whistle)
Jason Little (Motel Art Improvement Service)
Tom Hart (Hutch Owen)

When: Sunday March 23
Where: KGB Bar 85 East 4th Street

Festivities will begin at 7 pm!

http://www.tomhart.net/kgb/
http://www.kgbbar.com/calendar

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions regarding my e-mail newsletter query yesterday! I decided to go with YMLP. The first newsletter will be sent out in April and as an incentive for signing up I will include an exclusive sketch in each newsletter that can *only* be seen by subscribing to the newsletter! You won't even see it on my Flickr! Swearsies!

An additional incentive to sign up is bi-monthly contests! Every two months there will be a winner, and a new contest!

Most of the newsletter content will focus on what I am up to that month, what's coming out, anything new I'm selling, events I'll be part of, etc. I think this will be a lot more convenient for people who don't want to check my website/MySpace/Facebook/LiveJournal all the time.

Anyhoo, sign up for it, won't you?

Fill out your e-mail address here!

Hey this might be a really stupid question but how can I go about creating an email mailing list? Something that people just need to click on something and type in their email address to join, and that can be easily unsubscribed to in a similar fashion. I see this type of thing a lot on websites for bands and such.

I'm thinking of starting an email list with like some kind of weekly sketch incentive or something, like if someone signs up for the mailing list they get an exclusive sketch emailed to them every week, and maybe a monthly newsletter about what I'm doing, what just came out, what's coming out soon, what conventions I'm going to, etc.

I know that a lot of the purpose of a mailing list is sort of made redundant by the existence of blogs nowadays, but I think it would be easier for a lot of people who don't have LiveJournal/MySpace/Facebook to just have something sent to their email once a month, with a nice weekly sketch on top of that.

So yeah, how does one go about creating such a thing in an easy-to-manage fashion? Anyone else ever done this before or know how to do it?

I checked out this show last night and it was totally awesome! I love Justin Bond, ever since I saw him in Shortbus I admit I've been a little smitten. I think I am gonna see if I can go again next week. You should go! It's only for a few weeks so catch it while you can! There isn't a lot of advertising for it so I thought I would do my part to help out and spread the word. The show is basically Justin Bond being awesome for a little over an hour, interspersed with other awesome people being awesome periodically. Click the pic for more information.



I think you should go see it even if it's just to see Justin Bond's many fabulous wardrobe changes. Come on, you know you want to!

I need some help with something having to do with my day job. I need to know what blogs and magazines you guys read, or any kind of organizational bulletins (like you know, a newsletter you get in the mail for belonging to a particular organization). I am helping put together a list of places my job can advertise this new program that's starting this summer, which is an illustration residency. We've had other residencies for photography, painting, etc. but this is the first time we're offering one for illustrators, mainly geared towards people new-ish to the field or people who want to do some kind of intensive portfolio polishing with the help of a bunch of famous illustrators and artists over the summer.

Anyway, I've got a short list of various blogs and periodicals, but I wanted to see what you guys look at as well so we can advertise in that stuff, or try to get a mention in a blog, or what have you. If you have give me website addresses or magazine titles that would be super helpful!

Hey, Jess Fink (finkenstein) is getting ripped off! Not that I have bought anything from Hot Topic in the last five years but let's keep not shopping at Hot Topic for a while because this shit is lame as hell. Click the banner to read the story. LAME!!

Repost far and wide s'il vous plait!

I don't plan to post every page, but I figured I'd post the first one. After this it'll probably just be individual panels.

Some of you might remember this drawing I made for my friend Cris who wanted to get a tattoo of two punk boys making out:



Well he got it done! And he sent me a photo!



Isn't that awesome? I've heard people tell me they got drawings of mine tattooed on them but no one ever sends me a photo (the bastards!). This was the first time I drew something specifically for a tattoo and the first time I got a photo of it! So yay, Cris rules!

Also I got a tote bag with one of my drawings from Fall of Autumn's Punk Rock Clip Art silkscreened on it... from Indonesia! How cool is that? Some enterprising young Indonesian kids decided to make a bunch of tote bags and stuff with imagery from the Punk Rock Clip Art and they sent one to me! That's another thing people do a lot, tell me they made something with one of my drawings on it and that they'll send me one and they never do! So yay for these awesome kids from Indonesia!

ALSO also - I just bought Personal Best today and I'm really looking forward to watching it! I've heard it's got everything I love in it - an athletic gay teen drama! Like a queered up Karate Kid for the track team set or something.