I'm Drawing a Shoe: San Diego 2009

My pal (and venerable Chicago journalist) John Huston made the trek with me to Comic-Con this year, bringing along his video camera and an eye for the ridiculous. The (above) result is – I think I can safely say despite any bias – quite perfect. Chubby, self-effacing Skeletor? What's not to like?

Vader, Please Don't Hurt 'Em

Will the attendants of this year's San Diego Comic-Con be treated to this type of choreographic display? We can only hope. Regardless, it seemed the perfect opener for the next few days in the belly of the bespectacled, pocket-protected beast. (Thanks to Boing Boing for the clip.)

A Whale's Vagina

Looking forward to counting the Elvis storm troopers with you...

San Diego: All and Sundry and Four Face

This Thursday through Sunday, I'll be joining the sea of sweat and often unnerving enthusiasm that is San Diego Comic-Con. I'll be signing All and Sundry – the collection from Fantagraphics that will be debuting at the show – as well as selling copies of the limited run of Four Face.



Four Face is a series of fifty unique books, each containing four original cubist-esque drawings of, you guessed it, faces. No book will have the same contents as any other book, no faces will be repeated. Come by the table and select your favorite (or request yourself cube-ized if I haven't wrapped up the series by then), take it home, hack it apart, hang up the pages if you like. No one can stop you, no one! (cue wringing of hands, maniacal laughter).

Here are the hours we can stare at each other and try to figure out what that guy who just walked by is supposed to be dressed up as... (a hairy smurf? A sentient turd? Wayne Gretzky in a blender?):

FANTAGRAPHICS, BOOTH 1716
Thursday: 3-5PM
Friday: 11AM-1PM
Saturday: 11AM-1PM
Sunday: 12-2PM

See you in San Diego. And remember: spandex probably wasn't a good idea.

Pre-order: All and Sundry

The collection All and Sundry – featuring pieces spread through myriad publications and projects over the past six years – is now available for pre-order from Fantagraphics.

And I'll be signing the book in a couple weeks at San Diego Comic-Con. When I have the signing schedule, I'll post that here.

The Almost-Ran

This has ended up being too semi-ridiculous to not share. At ComicCon this summer I was asked to be interviewed by the lovely and congenial Ms. Olive Panter (yes, daughter of one Gary Panter) for that social networking juggernaut in Rupert Murdoch's army, myspace. I was told by Olive and company that the video would be up sometime in August. Sure, why not?

I don't recall how long the interview was, but it was quite pleasant, and all involved were extremely nice. When months had passed and I'd yet to run across any video of ComicCon, I assumed it had been scratched for one reason or another (or no reason, as is so often the case with corporations). But then I happened to see a link, when logging into to the time-wasting site last week, to this video. Here we're treated to a douchebag from My Chemical Romance (sorry, maybe he's a nice guy, but they're horrible (though their album artwork was done by James Jean, who can do no aesthetic wrong but isn't enough to save their horrible music... A further note: this guy's too douchesque to take off his sunglasses while both indoors and talking to someone? Two times the douche!). My interview wasn't in the video, but I noticed a couple of seconds of someone flipping through "The Three Paradoxes," which they'd shot right before or after my interview (I can't recall which). Strange. I'd become an establishing shot. Or atmosphere. Two things I couldn't be less appropriate for when it comes to the circus that is ComicCon.

Still, I noticed there was a Part Two to the video. And though the interview's not there either, there's another second or so of flipping through "Let Us Be Perfectly Clear." This is followed by Rosario Dawson and a guy I hung out with for about fifteen minutes in Farel Dalyrmple's apartment while halfheartedly watching "Mystery Men." So my interview was scratched entirely but my books remained. Maybe there's some analogy or metaphor waiting to be found there for me. I'm not sure. Either way, I loved it. Is somehow all seemed like a perfect document of independent comics' place at ComicCon.


Yet this interview wouldn't die! Days later, I was looking through Fantagraphics' Flickr site and came across this picture, photographic evidence that the interview occurred. Let the record reflect I am looking at what Olive is doing with the microphone and I resent Fantagraphics' (I'm assuming it was Eric Reynolds, the rat bastard) implications to the contrary.

But only God knows what I did under the table to Tim Hensley (one of my favorite artists in Mome). I'm ashamed. Ashamed.

Goodbye Costumes, Hello Boob Jobs

Another year of San Diego overload has come and gone. For the most part, I survived, and was able to eke out a few conversations here and there, but things tend to come in sound bites, the indigenous tongue of the pop culture festival.

Still, say what you will about the desperation, the collections, the capitalizing on the misguided dreams of youths long past: there were some bad ass, hilarious, and outlandish costumes, often all three simultaneously. And for every costume, no matter the genre or quality, there were six sweaty fans to document it (and, as often as possible, me documenting the documentarians... if I didn't already have my camera aimed at some too-bizarre-for-words costume team ups like the (above) Ugly Doll that was accosted by DVD promoting Vikings).


When not letting my jaw go slack from costume absorption, I was fortunate enough to sign with Tony Millionaire, Los Bros Hernandez, Josh Simmons, and Ben Catmull. Good people all around. And at The Tick booth I signed with that inimitable man from Massachusetts, Bob Polio, longtime art director for The Tick. Bob is a barker's barker, and could sell a refrigerator to an Eskimo, in a cold snap, when the Eskimo is dead... and there's no refrigerator. To say he is animated is to say the grand canyon's a ditch. But, again, good people! Thanks to Juliane for taking a picture of me (with Mr. Polio to my left) doing my best stab at the blue clad lunkhead.


But enough of fantasy and escapism... it's on to Los Angeles, the home of... well, more fantasy and escapism. Oh, well. More on the land of fake breasts and leathery facades shortly.

San Diego, Your Times Have Come

The time has come for the parade of wookies, wizards, and woebegone collectors. San Diego Comic-Con is upon us, and I once again will dart in and out as quickly as possible, trying to maintain some semblance of sanity (and picking up some cool toys, hopefully).

The signing times for the Fantagraphics table are below (I'm from 12 to 2 each day, though I may also come in a bit earlier on Friday). The only non-Fantagraphics signing I'll be doing is at the Tick booth (it's true: I drew a one page strip for their 20th anniversary collection) from 2 to 3 pm on Friday (directly after the signing at Fantagraphics).

I'll have original art and a look of existential confusion. Stop by and give both the once over.

FRIDAY
10:00 Craig Yoe
11:00 R.C Harvey * Craig Yoe * Dame Darcy
12:00 R.C Harvey * Paul Hornschemeier * Paul Karasik * Tim Hensley
1:00 Ben Catmull * Paul Hornschemeier * Paul Karasik * Tim Hensley
2:00 Ben Catmull * Cathy Malkasian * Ellen Forney * Johnny Ryan
3:00 Tony Millionaire * Cathy Malkasian * Ellen Forney * Johnny Ryan
4:00 Tony Millionaire * Gilbert Hernandez * Jaime Hernandez * Mario Hernandez
5:00 Josh Simmons * Gilbert Hernandez * Jaime Hernandez * Mario Hernandez
6:00 Josh Simmons * Steven Weissman * Dame Darcy * Jordan Crane

SATURDAY
10:00 R.C. Harvey * Paul Karasik
11:00 R.C. Harvey * Paul Karasik
12:00 Tony Millionaire * Paul Hornschemeier * Ellen Forney
1:00 Tony Millionaire * Paul Hornschemeier * Ellen Forney
2:00 Walt Holcombe * Johnny Ryan * Ben Catmull * Josh Simmons
3:00 Walt Holcombe * Johnny Ryan * Ben Catmull * Josh Simmons
4:00 Gilbert Hernandez * Jaime Hernandez * Steven Weissman * Jordan Crane
5:00 Gilbert Hernandez * Jaime Hernandez * Steven Weissman * Dame Darcy
6:00 Ellen Forney * Craig Yoe * Dame Darcy

SUNDAY
10:00 Ellen Forney * Ben Catmull
11:00 Ellen Forney * Ben Catmull
12:00 Jaime Hernandez * Gilbert Hernandez * Paul Hornschemeier
1:00 Jaime Hernandez * Gilbert Hernandez * Paul Hornschemeier
2:00 Jordan Crane * Craig Yoe * Josh Simmons
3:00 Craig Yoe * Josh Simmons