Appearances

I’ve been a bad blogger/web admin. I know this. And I know I tend to only post when I have something to promote. I’m SORRY. But just ask my long-suffering lifemate Sara: She doesn’t see much more of me than you do, because the unfortunate side effect of being so busy making stuff is that there is little time to do anything not directly related to said stuff. This week’s “stuff” is actually a lot of different stuff all at once, mostly revolving around the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival and the release of my band‘s new album, Unknown.

But we’re here today to talk specifically about the new exhibit I’m curating at the Marjorie Barrick Museum at UNLV, “Spinning Tales from Fremont Street.” Like the last show I assembled there, “Seduction of the Innocent,” it’s an awareness-builder for the Comic Book Festival. However, this show actually is all about the art, specifically the original art from the stories featured in the new anthology I edited and published to benefit the festival this year, Tales from Fremont Street. Beyond just comic pages, sketches, notes and scripts, the gallery space has also been transformed into a reasonable facsimile of a run-down Fremont Street motel. Most of the credit for artificially decaying the space goes to my co-conspirator, F. Andrew Taylor. Here’s some of his handiwork on the wall behind this lovely art:

Mighty convincing, no?

If you’re so inclined and available, you should attend the opening reception for this exhibit tomorrow, Nov. 2, from 6 to 8 p.m. It’s free, most of the contributors to Tales from Fremont Street will be there, and it’s also your first opportunity in-person to buy the comic (only $5!), from which all proceeds benefit the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District‘s support of the Comic Book Festival. (And if you don’t live near Vegas and want a copy, you can order one here.) And we can hug! You know you love Pj hugs!

I’ll be back with a post about other stuff you can do and/or buy soon. So keep your eyes peeled, and hope to see you tomorrow night!

Anyone who’s dealt with me over the last few weeks knows I’ve probably been more stressed than usual (and usually I’m not stressed at all, really). As we’re in the two-month ramp-up for the annual Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, that’s basically status quo for me until Nov. 5, but in particular, a good amount of my time has been spent curating and co-organizing the opening reception for a new exhibit opening this Friday, Sept. 30 at UNLV’s Marjorie Barrick Museum called “Seduction of the Innocent.”

The exhibit is a visual exploration of comic book censorship throughout the medium’s 80 or so years, timed to launch during Banned Books Week. I’ve effectively created a shorthand timeline of major events and issues in the history of banned and censored comics (and it’s a rich history — we’re barely scraping the surface here) using reproductions of classic comic strips, covers, photos and other visual cues. And this is the first gallery show I’m curating all by myself, so … hopefully it doesn’t suck. I don’t think it does.

“Seduction of the Innocent” will be up through Oct. 29, so you can visit the Barrick basically anytime in October to see the show, but the opening reception this Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. is kind of a big production. In addition to being a satellite event for the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, it’s also the final event of September’s Yelp Geeks Out promotion, so in addition to comic book retailers, a caricature artist and tours of the exhibit, there will also be live entertainment and free food and drink sampling. And a 100 percent chance of seeing me. So make sure you RSVP now to get on the guest list!

Hope to see you there. I’ll probably look tired, but your support will make it worth it.

Remember “Sugarhook,” the short film I co-wrote/co-directed/co-produced with my team Mechanical Cow Productions for this year’s 48 Hour Film Festival? Want to see it on the (relatively larger than in your living room) screen again? For the first time? At a (admittedly small) film festival? Hell, son, your wish is my command. Or, more accurately, Theatre7′s command.

This Wednesday, Sept. 7, at downtown’s favorite (and only) cinema dedicated to 100 percent independent filmmaking, Theatre7 (1406 S. Third St.) will host the first of two nights of the Neon Reverb Film Festival, itself just a slice of the larger Neon Reverb Festival, which used to be just a weekend of rad live music, but is now a week-long celebration of theater, comedy, art, poetry and, yeah, music too. Starting at 7 p.m., the evening of film will include a series of music-themed shorts (including the aforementioned “Sugarhook”) leading up to the feature documentary, “Unauthorized: The Story of Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics.”

This is doubly exciting for me. First, it’s the first non-48 Hour festival in which “Sugarhook” is being screened, even if it is a small, local one. And secondly, I grew up reading “Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics.” The series, published by Revolutionary Comics, published unauthorized biographies of musicians and groups, and drew particular ire (and lawsuits) from such diverse acts as New Kids on the Block and Guns ‘N Roses. I still have (I believe) my copies of the Guns ‘N Roses issue (seventh printing, maybe?) and the Rolling Stones issue. The information I learned from reading the GNR bio helped me win a radio trivia contest once, so yeah, watching a doc about the publisher (and its owner’s murder!) is cool enough, but having my film open for it? Doubly rad.

Anyway, I know it’s kind-of short notice (long weekend and I just confirmed the date today), but if you have $7 and nothing better to do Wednesday night, join me at Theatre7 for some popcorn and rock ‘n’ roll (on DVD). It’ll be a blast.

You have to love blog post titles that tell you exactly what the post is about: As mentioned earlier this week, I’ll be trekking down to the Valley of the Sun for my first time tabling at Phoenix Comicon. If you’re planning on attending the show, you’re definitely going to want to stop by the Pop! Goes the Icon table (237) in the Small Press area. I’m going to have some awesome goodies, perhaps none more awesome than a hand-painted “Utopian” Munny:

Yep. That bad boy is not for sale. The only way to get it is to stop by our table at the convention and enter the sweepstakes to win it. Crazy, right? Right.

Other items I’m bringing to actually sell? Aside from just about every comic currently in stock that Pop! Goes the Icon‘s ever published (including the Utopian trade paperback), I’ll have brand-new, 11×14 prints of some of my most in-demand illustrations, including “Giant Robot” and X-Men knitting, as well as a very limited quantity of the brand-new “My Other Car is a Landspeeder” stickers.

So come on down this weekend. It’ll be fun times.

Is it really time for another comic convention already? Wasn’t it just a month ago I was up in Portland, Ore. for the indie comics-oriented Stumptown Comics Festival? (Answer: yes.) Well, in about 10 days, I’ll be on my way to a significantly different climate, as I drive my Toyota Matrix loaded with comics, display stands and paraphernalia to Phoenix for my first-ever attendance at Phoenix Comicon.

I’ll be kicking it at small press table 237 all weekend (well, Friday, Saturday and Sunday), representing Pop! Goes the Icon with fellow Vegas cartoonist F. Andrew Taylor. I got new prints made for the show, will have fresh copies of the Utopian trade paperback, and will be doing sketches on request. I already started taking some requests ahead of time, so if you’d like a cheap sketch commissioned to pick up at the show (or otherwise), drop me a message.

I’ve heard good things about Phoenix Comicon and I’m looking forward to a great show. If you’re in the area, I hope you can swing by.

This Saturday, May 7 is Free Comic Book Day, which means exactly what you think it means: Go to any fine comic book shop on Saturday, and you’ll be able to choose from a variety of 100 percent free comic books, including as diverse a selection as Spider-Man, The Tick and … Kung Fu Panda? Anyway, it’s a great opportunity to introduce kids to a love of reading (many of the titles are kid-friendly), as well as to re-discover what wonders await inside your local comic shop. No longer are these stores dingy, musty domains of unwashed, basement-dwelling geeks. Especially here in Las Vegas (for the most part), we are blessed with brightly lit, welcoming, diverse stores owned and staffed by smart, passionate people who even shower occasionally!

I’ll be spending the day at MaximuM Comics‘ Henderson location (at Marks and Sunset, in the Wal-Mart shopping center), doing sketches and possibly signing comics if you, I dunno, buy something I wrote or drew or whatever. The Henderson MaximuM store is something like 3,000 square feet, loaded with tons of comics, graphic novels, toys, apparel, games and more. Be sure to stop by early to get the best selection of free comics, and to catch me before my arm falls off. Doors open at 10 a.m.

But, first, a quick word about the 48 Hour Film Project, which my awesome team, Mechanical Cow Productions, successfully completed Sunday at 7:34 p.m.: The screening of our team’s film, “Sugarhook,” will happen at 7 p.m. tomorrow (April 13) at Century 16 Suncoast. If you’d like to buy tickets in advance (and you should), they’re $10 at BrownPaperTickets.com. We’ll be posting the film online as well, but not until after the premiere. I’m not saying much more about the experience now because I write about it exhaustively in this week’s Vegas Seven.

However, on Friday I fly up to Portland, Ore. for the first time to attend the eighth annual Stumptown Comics Fest, being held April 16 and 17 at the Oregon Convention Center. I’m looking forward to seeing old friends such as Jill and Frank Beaton (and their bouncing baby Beatrice), finally meeting collaborators such as John Bivens (an awesome artist who will be sharing my table throughout the weekend), and generally putting birds on everything to make it into art. If you live in the area and love comics, you should check it out. Otherwise, I’ll be hanging around for an extra day or two just to take a short break before returning to the madness.