David's Teatime

I'm not sure when David Matthews started sending me his work. I know it was during his university days. Regardless, it was beautiful work then, and it's only gotten better since.

Treat yourself to some of his gorgeous line art while I look at some of the ridiculously nice prints of his I've squirreled away here in the studio.

40 Iterations of Irby

Part of me wishes I'd just found these in a shoe box at some random flea market, having no idea what was going on. The other part of me is really glad I know the story:

Dallas Phys-Ed teacher Dale Irby wore the same outfit for 40 years of school portraits. Starting by accident, building into one of the best, longest jokes ever told. Which should automatically win him either Funniest Teacher of All Time, or a job as spokesman for his local dry-cleaners.

Hats off to you, Mr. Irby. You made me feel nostalgic for high school. For about a minute.

File Under: Well-Deserved

Congratulations to Anders Nilsen for winning the 2012 Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize. Big Questions is certainly my pick for best book of the previous year and I was really glad to see a prize committee of this sort giving him some of the accolades (and a few dollars to boot) that he deserves for his mountain of insightful, moving work.

Hats off, Mr. Nilsen.

Farewell, Jan

Jan Berenstain. 1923-2012.

A Great Picture

This is a great picture.

I have nothing further to add.

Kelly Link's Stone Animals

I was honored to do an illustration in the letterpress-covered chapbook of Stone Animals, by the inimitable Kelly Link. There are a ton of great illustrators and illustrations in the book (and sales from the book go to charity), so even if you've had the pleasure of reading it before in one of her collections, I'd highly recommend picking it up. If you haven't read the story before: cry about that misfortune for a few minutes, then hurry up and buy the book.

John Martz Mumblier

Is this new comic by John Martz amazing? Yes it is.

Take some time, let it unfold on you. (via Mumblier)

Shirts! Bang! Bang!

The good people of Earwolf and Comedy Bang! Bang! have printed up shirts with the logo I drew for the aforementioned (and always enthralling) podcast. The two designs (pictured above) are available here and here.

I got a few of said shirts in the mail and I can confirm: these can easily take care of 50% of your nudity. (If you happen to be a tiny baby? Maybe upwards of 100.)

Dylan Williams Benefit

There are still several hours left to bid on this page from Life with Mr. Dangerous, so please bid. This is to benefit Dylan Williams' (the founder of Sparkplug Books who tragically passed away on September 10th) family, to help with the medical and other expenses brought about by Dylan's illness.

Milk Shift

Via the great Joe Mochove (see Joe and his pal Rusty with me here):

"Milk Shift"

Out, driving on the streets at 1:30am, with no destination in mind. I was at home, restless, not ready for sleep, and I determined I really wanted some chocolate milk. Almost bought some earlier but didn’t.

I decided I wanted some enough to go out. This is the journal of my trip.

I’ve now decided I am going to Wawa. They will have whatever I can want.

Okay, chocolate milk acquired. Wawa was quiet and sparse with customers. Most people were waiting on ordered food. In and out. I sit in my car with my jug. It is 1:46am.

As I drive back home, I think of how silly it is to go out so late for something so unnecessary. Still, despite the time of night, I remain safe in my car, buffered from the world around me.

I drank my chocolate milk and, as expected, it was too much. Such is the danger of delicious chocolate milk.

It is 1:58am.

I am now in my house. I am where I am supposed to be at such an hour. I am only a little more tired. Regardless, my trip is over.

It is 2:13am. I think of yesterdays while preparing for tomorrow.

"To This Day, I Have This Duty"

A great story, via Boing Boing, who puts it perfectly: "the message here is seriously spot-on: The best way to honor the people who helped you realize your dreams is to help somebody else realize theirs."

Kick The Burning Building

Being on the road this summer, I haven't had much time to post anything on the blog... but what better way to come back than to give a shout-out to a buddy?

Jeff Zwirek (one of the trio of guys that produced the animated trailer for Life with Mr. Dangerous) has got a great kickstarter project underway. You should chip in if at all possible. Watch the video (which is hilarious and clever, as one would expect from Jeff) and check out how crazy this book will be once constructed.

The world needs these kind of crazy books! Do the right thing.

Tour Shout Outs

A million thanks to everyone who came out to the Life with Mr. Dangerous book tour events on the east and west coasts. And a particular thanks to those who hosted me along the way.

Each and every person I stayed with is embarrassingly talented in their respective field, so I'd be remiss if I didn't give them a nod here. Look for their mark on the world at large, watch for their names in the credits, or buy their products as appropriate... but however you do it, check them out. The people willingly suffering my company were:

CJ Toledano
PK Hooker
Jason Munn
Zack Soto
Jesse LeDoux

Farewell, Sidney

I'm behind in posting and am sadly behind in saying goodbye to one of the greatest directors the world has ever seen, Sidney Lumet. The New York Times' video above is a fitting adieu to one of the medium's masters, a man as New York as the city he filmed.

Once More, from The VP

To indulge in one more bit of moral perspective, I thought this short but extremely heartfelt screed from Joe Biden was perfect. Biden's not known to prevaricate, and this time it served him – and the cause of the workers – for the better.

A Poster, Sampson Style

How do you do a poster? This is how you do a poster.

From the unending crotch kicking that is Johnny Sampson.

Get Flinchy

This has been in the works for some time, so it's a pleasure to finally be able to say that artists Jay Ryan, Diana Sudyka, and Tom Stack (with all around support from designer Jason Harvey) have launched their new shirt site: flinchy.

It's a great line up of attire from an amazing group (who all happen to be phenomenally nice people to boot), and with copy written by my pal and perennial blogger John Huston.

And if the shirts weren't enough to keep your interest (and they should be), you can test your Chicago cultural vocabulary by naming all the models for the shirts. A certain mister Nilsen (below) is among them, along with a Mr. Albini of the musical world and Christen Carter of Busy Beaver Buttons fame.

Give Yourself a Black Eye

There are still 17 days to go and more funds needed for Black Eye, an amazing (pending) anthology of dark humor featuring a long list of contributors. Among that list, some of my favorite people in comics:

Stéphane Blanquet (France)
Lilli Carré (USA- Chicago)
Al Columbia (USA)
Ludovic Debeurme (France)
Kaz (USA- Los Angeles)
Michael Kupperman (USA- New York City)
Mats!? (USA- Oakland, CA)
Olivier Schrauwen (Belgium)
Robert Sikoryak (USA- New York City)
Jon Vermilyea (USA- New York City)

I'll be contributing work as well (something concerning a childhood hero of mine), and I'm looking forward to seeing how such a wide selection of artists and writers comes together. So hurry up, Give to Black Eye now and support independent, grass roots fuckeduppery.

A Little Help for George Bailey's Museum

It's always surprising when I meet someone who's managed to avoid seeing "It's a Wonderful Life," simply because it's so ubiquitous this time of year. And I've never minded that saturation because it's actually an incredibly well made film. And that's thanks in no small part to Jimmy Stewart.

While I didn't see "It's a Wonderful Life" this year, there usually isn't more than a month or two gap between me seeing one Jimmy Stewart film or another. From his work with Hitchcock, to "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (another Frank Capra great), to "Harvey," his films, his manner, and even the way a suit hangs on him have all been pretty massive influences on me and my work.

So when I was searching online for the audio version of "It's a Wonderful Life" this year (thanks to my wife for alerting me to the broadcast), I was delighted to stumble across the Jimmy Stewart Museum in Indiana, Pennsylvania. I was not delighted to see that the economy has hit the museum just as hard as everywhere else.

Speaking as someone who came from a small town in Ohio obsessed with Ulysses S. Grant (who lived there as a boy), I can attest that small museums and curiosities like this are one of the things that make small towns great. Seeing these dusty displays, thinking of the process the curators went through including this or that knickknack, all of these stories within stories are worth far more than any donation asked at the door.

If you've been as affected by Jimmy Stewart's work as I have, or if you're just a fan of small town museums in general, please donate to the museum. Even $10 can go a long way for a small operation like this.

After all, the old Building & Loan made a comeback with just one Momma dollar and one Poppa dollar.

Jim Henson's Fantastic World

On a day meant for giving thanks, I have a lot of people in my life to give thanks for. One of those people, unfortunately no longer with us in person, is Jim Henson. There are few people that have had a greater influence on my art and my life than Mr. Henson did. From his work ethic, to his playful experimentation, to his thorough goodness and kindness, he has always been someone I've looked up to. So I couldn't have been happier to be surprised by someone else I'm thankful for (my wife, Emily), with a belated birthday present trip to the Museum of Science and Industry's exhibit of Jim Henson's work.

If you'll be in Chicago for any reason before January 23rd, you owe yourself a walk through this collection.

I can't really do the exhibit justice, but I can say it was easily one of the greatest displays I've ever seen. If you grew up in my generation, there were any number of puppets, muppets, and drawings that made you smile in recognition. And the small children running around shouting out the characters' names and renewing the joy that Henson brought to the world had me leaving the place feeling a renewed faith in life.

There were a great deal of facts that I hadn't known about Henson, like his start as a cartoonist...



or the fact that he started and ran a poster shop in college. In fact he seems to have gone through the careers of almost all of my friends (cartoonists, filmmakers, poster artists, etc.), all in one lifetime. And he wasn't too shabby at any of them.



One of my favorite bits in the exhibit was a wall where visitors could make their own arrangements of felt shapes, eyes, clothes, and accessories to form their own two-dimensional muppet. This one was left by an unknown author and I felt compelled to preserve it.



This floored me, as it would anyone who grew up with Sesame Street. The original sketch of Bert and Ernie (which you can see again on the desk as Bert is being sculpted).



Above the printers in my studio, I have a picture of the puppeteer who inhabits Big Bird. He's only got on the bottom half of the costume, the citrus orange tree trunk legs, and he's just sort of dancing, hamming it up for the photographer. The photograph is from some issue of the New Yorker, I don't recall the issue or the date.

I don't know why the photograph was taken or have any sort of context for it, but I've held on to it, as it seems a perfect illustration of Henson's world. The old puppeteer is at work, but he is smiling and dancing, before he puts on the rest of his bright, improbable costume to make another generation run around, screaming its collective head off, singing songs taught by weird, furry, loving animals and monsters.

Thanks again, Jim. We love you.