Bleeding Neon

I’m back at the drawing board, trying to get all of the pencil artwork for my eight-page contribution to the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival anthology finished before I leave town for 10 days. And get the website for said anthology launched, at which point I’ll post all about it here and beg you for money. What else is new? At least the money is for the Library District and not for my hedonistic exploits.

I wrapped up a feature for Vegas Seven I’ve been working on for a while on breaking into comic book writing, something about which I know a little. Actually, I turned in the story yesterday, got asked to do some rewrites today, and finished those rewrites tonight, so hopefully that will be the end of that. I’m still busting my butt as much as possible to get The Utopian wrapped up ahead of schedule and then turn my attention back to other things, like finalizing and releasing the fall publishing schedule for Pop! Goes the Icon and turning my band’s rehearsal space into a recording studio for the next few months.

Speaking of As Yet Unbroken, it seems like momentum is picking up again quite quickly. We had those bookend gigs last week, and hadn’t planned another show until the first week of September. But the band that opened for us at N.O.I.S.E. on Friday, Thrown Clear, has asked us to join them (or at least one of them) at another venue in a few weeks. So we’ll probably do that, and I’ll have more info on that soon. And for you lovely Southern Californians, we’re working on a gig in the Orange County area circa Oct. 1. Nothing is confirmed yet, so if you know any bookers in the L.A.-O.C.-S.D. area, feel free to highly recommend us for a slot at one of their venues on that date. Otherwise, keep posted here, or even better, join the AYU mailing list.

Hey, remember Omega Comics Presents? The black-and-white anthology series I started publishing in the winter, which features multiple new stories by up-and-coming independent comics talents?

It’s baaaack.

This time, we have some awesome contributions from folks across the North American continent, such as Glenn Arseneau and Andy Gray’s mystical adventure “Greyman: Highway Patrol,” Dino Caruso and J. Korim’s comedic quickie “Door to Door,” and perhaps most awesomely, former The Batman Strikes! writer Russell Lissau’s “Greedy,” a sultry, noir crime drama elegantly drawn by mpMann. Oh, and I have a story in there too, the second chapter of my espionage-action epic, “Omega.” If you picked up the first issue and want to see where that story is going, the only way to find out is to buy the second issue.

Remember, these fine creators only get paid if you buy the comic. So buy it. Buy a few copies and hand them out on Halloween to trick-or-treaters. Buy a few more and line your birdcage. Personally, I don’t care what you do with the comic, so long as you buy, buy, buy.

Further incentive? This mind-blowing cover drawn by my own fat fingers and brilliantly colored by Bozeman, Montana’s own Stephen Downer:

Here’s a little more incentive: If you live in Las Vegas, and you get there early enough, three local comic book stores have copies of the first issue they’ll be giving away this Saturday, May 1, during Free Comic Book Day: Alternate Reality, Comic Oasis and MaximuM Comics. So, you know, pre-order issue two and pick up issue one FREE. America: Fuck Yeah!

I’m back. Didja miss me?

Of course you didn’t. I’m sure between Twitter and Facebook and whatever else you kids use to do the cyberstalking these days, it feels like you can’t get rid of me. It’s OK, I understand the feeling. I can’t get rid of me either.

So Emerald City Comicon. It was fun. For the most part. I didn’t sell nearly as much as I’d have liked to — mainly, the goal was to push the first issue of the new anthology series I’m publishing, Omega Comics Presents. But people at the show seemed much more interested in having their stacks of comics signed by Big Name Creator X, or buying Wow That’s Neat-O art, not investing $3.50 into an unknown comic anthology by unknown creators from an unknown publisher.

But once I got over the depression of that on the first day of the convention, I simply learned to enjoy the time in Seattle, both at the show and outside of it, meeting new and old friends, walking around a beautiful city in gorgeous weather, and doing the working vacation thing. I could spill more, but that’s all I have the energy (or time) to say about it. For some reason, I’ve been kinda drained since getting back to Vegas, part of which I think is the kick-off of the annual Trees and Plants Assault Pj’s Sinus Cavities event, which has already caused my eyes to puff, my throat to clench and my body to go limp.

While I was up in the Pacific Northwest, two new reviews of Omega Comics Presents #1 hit the interwebs. The first is from a weird little horror-themed website that may or may not be called “Count Gore De Vol’s Tomb of Dark Delights.” It’s focused mostly on John Dimes’ tale in the debut issue, as John has one foot firmly in the horror fiction world, but overall, the, er, Count calls the comic “an entertaining first entry in what promises to be a very satisfying series.” Works for me!

More visibly was our review on Comic Book Resources’ “Comics Should be Good” blog. It’s a thorough, and I think fair, dissection of the issue. While the writer, Greg Burgas, doesn’t love everything (and in an anthology, I guess that’s the point), he does admit “there’s room for improvement,” and that “the fun of comics comes through rather well.” On the subject of my specific contribution, the first chapter of espionage-action serial “OMEGA,” Greg is critical but objective, and more importantly, the story was set up well “enough to be intriguing,” and I’m OK with that. I know the art’s not great, nor even my best, but so long as the story is told well, that’s all that really matters to me. But he did write that I have “talent, certainly, but [need] work on fluidity and nuance.” Which is all true. And kind of him to say. It would have been easy enough to outright say “the story’s OK, the art sucks,” but he didn’t, and the thing is, this is a starting point, and the only way to go is up. And believe me, the second issue of OCP – from cover to cover — is gonna rock peoples’ worlds. Or so I TELL YOU.

Anyway, the next week or so will be spent trying to get back into the swing of things, despite questionable physical and mental discombobulation. I need to get back to work on a number of projects, back to the gym, back to housework (bleh) and just, um, back. Like the Beatles.

It’s Tuesday afternoon. And I’m freaking out just a little. Because in four days, I’m flying up to Seattle for Emerald City Comicon. The reason I’m freaking out (just a little) is not because of the travel (which I love) or the city (which I love) or the convention (which should be awesome), but because even though I’ve attended many comic book shows before, this is the first major one at which I’m actually holding down a table. Pretty much by myself. For two days.

Actually, I’m excited. I know a lot of people who will be up there, though most of them I’ve only dealt with over the internet, including Denis Caron, Stephen Downer, Sven Straatveit and Jason Copland, who will be joining me at our little Pop! Goes the Icon table in Artist Alley on Saturday to hang out, sign stuff and help give away two pages of his original art from the first issue of Omega Comics Presents.

But the only show I’ve tabled thus far was the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, which is relatively small (1200 attendees), and was only five hours. I decided to forego bigger shows such as San Diego Comic-Con this year in lieu of more intimate (or at least, not four-day blowouts) venues such as ECCC and Long Beach Comic-Con. But still, ECCC is pretty huge, and I’ll have to be all cheery and approachable behind a table for two full days, something I haven’t done since I worked in retail — and that was a long time ago.

And as I’ll be in Artist Alley, people might expect, I dunno, sketches or something. And I’ve already had requests from folks attending for sketches. I gives me performance anxiety. And I would just pull the “I’m a writer” card, but everyone knows I also draw the comics I write, so I can’t really fairly do that. And sitting next to Jason, who’s a for-real artist, well, it has me a bit antsy.

But the main reason for my mini-freak-out, aside from still not having all my materials prepared and dreading how many supplies I’ll have to load into the luggage I don’t own yet, is whether or not I’ll sell enough comics to justify the huge expense of flying both Sara and I to Seattle, staying in a downtown hotel for three nights, and paying hundreds of dollars for space and power at the convention. Due to distribution fuck-ups with the first issue of OCP, I HAVE to count on convention sales to turn a profit on this thing and get my creators paid. So I’m being optimistic and bringing a bunch more copies than I think I’ll sell. But what if over the course of two days I don’t sell diddly? Is it because I’m a bad salesperson? Or because the product quality isn’t there? See why my nerves are a little wracked?

Of course, I’m sure things will go smoothly. And I’ll have a good time meeting new people, seeing old friends and generally hanging out in one of my favorite U.S. cities. But still: nervous.

If you live in Seattle or plan to attend the show, PLEASE come visit me at Artist Alley booth M-12. In addition to the first issue of the well-reviewed OCP #1, I’ll also have bargains on The Utopian #s 1 and 2, as well as free swag. And I’ll draw you a sketch if you ask nicely. So long as it’s not a car.

Ladies and gentlemen, today is the day. Let Feb. 10 go down in history as the date upon which a new comic book giant tread upon the Earth for the first time. For today, the debut issue of Omega Comics Presents goes on sale. For real.

This is the anthology series I’ve been talking about for months. It features an array of new comic talents recruited from around the globe (no kidding, we have at least three countries represented here). Yes, that means Pop! Goes the Icon is finally publishing a comic book that doesn’t exclusively revolve around my questionable talents.

However, this will be the first time for many of you to see my storytelling capabilities (or lack thereof) outside the context of my weekly webcomic, The Utopian. The lead story in OCP is “OMEGA,” an ongoing serial about a covert counter-terrorism team that embarks on a mission to save Hoover Dam even as a mole is discovered inside its own ranks. It’s 24-meets-Heroes, and hopefully does not suck.

Buy this comic or the terrorists win.

On top of that, we have a supernatural comedy from U.K. creators Alex De-Gruchy and Robert Durham, a surrealist take on superheroes by D.C.’s own John Dimes (featuring my first lettering on someone else’s art), and a short gag strip from my favorite Canadians, Dino Caruso and Jason Copland.

It’s only $3.50 a copy (or $2.50 digital) and available in select comic stores, as well as direct order from the PGTI website. All of the above creators get paid royalties, so it’s not just me taking your hard-earned bucks anymore. Nope, I have an international cabal of comic-making mouths to feed. So, you know, please support independent comics.

The second issue is just about wrapped up and is being prepped for submission to Diamond, the giant company responsible for distributing comics and toys to just about every comic store in North America. So send some good vibes my way as we vie for wide distribution for the subsequent issues of OCP. And thanks.