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.

Comic book writer, indie filmmaker and all-around good dude Brandon Jerwa is making a documentary that focuses on those insanely creative people who — more often out of love than money — work endlessly at bringing comic books, graphic novels and cartoons to life. Called “Untold Tales of the Comic Industry,” the film is basically a collection of interviews with a huge scope of writers, artists and editors telling it like it is — what got them into comics, what they see is good and bad about the industry, where they see it going. Here, why don’t I let Brandon tell you more:

“Untold Tales” is down to its last 46 hours or so of trying to raise the remaining $3,000 of its $18,000 goal on Kickstarter, that crowd-sourcing site that has become the lifeblood for hundreds (thousands, more likely) of self-started creative projects. I’m asking you — both as a financial backer of the film and a guy who likes to see worthy endeavors happen — to consider donating even just $1 (though hopefully more) to help Brandon make this thing reach its full potential, and if you can’t, to please share the Kickstarter page or video (or this post) with your circle of internet influence.

Either way, the film will get made, but reaching the funding goal ensures it gets made with the best interviews and best opportunities for distribution possible. It’s come so far; I’d hate to see the funding goal not happen in these crucial final days.

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.

It’s not overstatement to say the comics world was taken completely unaware today with news that legendary (and very active) writer Dwayne McDuffie died yesterday of complications from surgery. You can head to the link to read a little about his accomplishments, which include breaking racial barriers and stereotypes of black characters in the comic industry. Making it worse? McDuffie wrote the animated adaptation of the acclaimed graphic novel All-Star Superman, which debuted on DVD TODAY.

I wish I had time to do a proper digital portrait of McDuffie, but my workload this week is nuts. Instead, you get the above photo that I shot when McDuffie guested at the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival in ’08. Suffice to say he’ll be missed.

I’m trying to cram in getting as many of these comic book pages for the final chapter of my anthology serial “Omega” done as I can this weekend. If I avoid shenanigans like last night’s bar-hopping (though much-needed, and for good reasons), and not find myself dragging ass in the morning like I did today, maybe I can even get all five pages penciled and sent to my boy Vic to ink. But we’ll see.

It’s been a very interesting week, between posing for photos that may be featured in multiple publications, laying the groundwork for and promoting next week’s Utopian trade paperback release party, and working on a particularly physically challenging article that I’m sure you’ll hear more about later. That, and I had a meeting with a new friend that, depending on what side of the coin fate decides to land, could prove to be the start of something fruitful. Yes, I know I’m being very vague right now. I just seem to have a lot of things in the works that have to be kept under wraps right now, but I really hope to share the behind-the-scenes soon.

In other news, somewhat related to the earlier item about the physical article research, I realized this week just how out of shape I am compared to when I was running three-to-four days a week. I’ve already gained back a pound or two from the 10 or so pounds I dropped in the fall, and after one grueling experience this week, it struck me I need to get my act back together. Thanks to the amazing, Southern California-like weather we’re having in Las Vegas this weekend, I went for my first outdoor run in probably three months today, and while I’m definitely off my game, it feels as though it won’t take too much effort to get ready for my next benchmark, the Run Away with Cirque du Soleil 5k on March 19 at the Springs Preserve. I half-jogged, half-walked about 1.8 miles (if you believe Google Maps) in 20 minutes today, which wasn’t terrible, though I definitely felt it in my chest.

I’m gonna get back to the drawing board now. Hope you enjoy your Five-One Day.

We interrupt Choose Your Own Adventure Week to share with you a really cool project being assembled by my pal Jon Solo and his cancer-surviving partner-in-crime, Kaylin Andres, called “Terminally Illin’.” Here, I’ll let them tell you about it:

Yeah, so basically, kick-ass Kaylin kicked cancer’s ass (twice!), and instead of being all down about her experience, she’s decided to tackle it on head-first in a really creative way, with a project that will hopefully serve as inspiration to other folks battling cancer.

Where do you come in? Well, there’s only 16 days left for Jon and Kaylin to meet their Kickstarter goal of $8,500 to fund this project, and they’re at about the halfway point. That means enough people have to pledge to raise about $250 a day for the next two weeks or else the funding won’t go through.

So if, like me, you think this is a worthy (and fun!) endeavor, maybe you could pledge to donate whatever amount works for you. Or, ya know, just spread the word on your Twitterspaces and FacePages.

All right, as you were!

We talked about Tales from the Boneyard, the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival and the business of making comics. But, as the show’s name infers, we also played our favorite music. If you want to find out just what music, well, you’ll have to tune in at 6 p.m. tonight. If you don’t live in the Vegas area or won’t be near a radio, you can also stream the station live from the KUNV website.

I actually won’t be able to listen to the program myself, because I’ll be at Firefly inside the Plaza hotel & casino to help raise funds for First Friday. If you miss my radio appearance tonight for that same reason, you are excused. We’ll share a toast.

That’s all for now. This week is absolutely insane as we roll out the release of the Boneyard comic and I have a lot to do for the Comic Book Festival. I just got a request from another radio program and have to figure out how to squeeze that in as well. Last night was spent stuffing envelopes and bagging comics to fulfill pre-orders (with much help from Sara and our pal Aaron) as well as assembling press kits. I still have to do fliers, posters, rehearsals for a gig Saturday, etc. blah blah. Oh, and I’m about 3,000 words behind for National Novel Writing Month. So … I’m outta here. See you on the radios.

If you’ll be in the neighborhood (i.e., attending the damn thing!), you can find me in Artist Alley, at booth/table #2104. Need directions? OH LOOK I GOT YOU COVERED:

Click on the map to make MACHO SIZE

So, yeah, looks like I’m in the back corner near a wrestling ring (?!) and loading docks. And hopefully restrooms. If you’re going to the con, you should come see me, because I have things you want to buy. Like these:

And maybe these:

And other stuffs! I’ll even draw you crappy pictures or write you dismal poetry for mere pennies on the dollar! I have three days to kill, so, please come entertain/annoy me. Thank you.

I walked out spending about $40 on two prepared meals, a smoothie and a bag of  spicy “krispys” (basically, raw tortilla chips). I know that sounds like a lot of money, and believe me, it is. That’s the reason I only go to Go Raw on special occasions. A typical lunch for two would cost about $20, and while that’s not actually much more than even going to a sandwich shop (once you factor in sides and drinks), it’s probably more than most people want to, or should, spend on a normal basis. But the quality of the items Go Raw creates is so good (and the process going into making some of these items is so involved) and tasty, it’s worth it.

After getting my hair cleaned up by the always-adorable Kimberli Lopez at Tease Boutique Salon (a long drive for me, but she does such good work), I headed to the opening reception for “Drawn in the Dust,” the comic book art exhibit at UNLV’s Barrick Museum in which I have a few pages hanging. The turnout was surprisingly good. It may have helped that this was a dual reception — another show of art by UNLV faculty and students was opening just on the other side of the wall from our show — but there were definitely a bulk of people over the two hours who came specifically to see our silly little comic drawings. I had a great time seeing new and old faces and comparing notes with other artists about our respective processes. It’s still a little weird for an industry veteran like Deryl Skelton (who’s worked on dozens of titles over the last few decades, including a great 1990s run on Star Trek: The Next Generation for DC) to consider me a peer — and an honor to be his editor on Tales from the Boneyard — but it’s also a nice feeling. I shot some video of the event last night, but I’m not sure how the audio came out, so we’ll see if something actually turns up.

After that, I headed downtown to the El Cortez for Vegas Seven‘s “The Tell.” When I was talking to host Dayvid Figler a few nights ago at another event, he described the ballroom space in the El Cortez to me, explaining that it used to be a buffet, so there were still buffet bars lining one side of the room. He noted there was seating for only about 80 or 90, between the fixed booths and the portable chairs. Well, it turns out about 200 people turned out last night. It was pretty amazing. Two hundred people on a Friday night for a storytelling event. Admittedly, it was free, and it was being heavily promoted by both Seven and the Vegas Valley Book Festival, and among the Vegas culturati, it was one of those “must-attend” events. But still, impressive. And it was great. Seven storytellers from or connected to Las Vegas sharing their experiences with cheating — whether romantically, professionally, academically or otherwise. Many drinks were purchased and consumed (none here of course!), the room was standing-room only, and most everyone seemed to really enjoy the loose, fun atmosphere. This is apparently the first in a series of such events, so look for more installments of “The Tell” in the near future.

I called it a night right after that, however. It was 11:30 p.m. by the time everything wrapped up at the El Cortez, and while my friends were very insistently asking me to go to the after-party at Downtown Cocktail Room, I just wanted to head home and sleep. I had been up since about 6:30 a.m., as I did manage to go for a run in the morning as planned — about 2.6 miles total running and walking — and I didn’t really want to be around a lot of smoke and stuff during my “detox” week. But it did bring me back to my straightedge days, when I’d hang out in bars all night drinking only Sprite and still had a good time (for the most part, when I wasn’t soberly aware of people getting obnoxiously drunk) without defiling my body as much. I was genuinely enjoying myself last night without libations, but I was still pooped nonetheless.

Geez, give me a schedule to blog, and I’ll just ramble about nothing for a while, huh? Ack.

Anyway, you came here for yesterday’s menu, didn’t you? FINE:

• Pre-run/post-run snack: Coconut creme pie Larabar
• Breakfast: One apple, one cup Dynamo juice blend
• Lunch: Caro-bana smoothie from Go Raw (carob, tahini, banana, dates)
• Supper: Two veggie wraps from Go Raw (pesto, “almond cheese,” tomato, avocado, sprouts, onions, cucumbers and carrots wrapped in collard greens)
• Dinner: Lentil and vegetable soup with three spicy “krispys” (buckwheat, chia seeds, flax seeds, oranges, yams, sunflower seeds, garlic, olive oil, basil, rosemary, Himalayan Crystal Salt, jalapeño)
• Late-night snack: Three slices pineapple
• Beverages: Water all day, plus the above-listed, and a few sips of Kombucha tea

Have to get this article for David magazine done today. For real. Tomorrow I have band practice and other nonsense, and the rest of the week will be insane prep for Long Beach Comic Con, so … yeah. See you kids later.