Yep, I finally switched the A/C at home from “cool’” to “heat.”

Ha, no, but really, you know what time it is?

VEGAS VALLEY COMIC BOOK FESTIVAL TIME!

It feels redundant for me to blow a lot of pixels here going over the details of what awesomeness awaits you this Saturday, Nov. 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Clark County Library, because a full website already exists dedicated to that mission, so I suggest you go there, read all about it, then come back here so I can share my personal take.

Done? OK, so … I’ve been involved with the planning of the VVCBF since 2009, which is incidentally the first year I officially launched Pop! Goes the Icon, at the very same event. Each year, my involvement has increased, to the point that I now basically handle all of the marketing, promotion and tangential events related to the festival, while the Superduper Events Specialist (or whatever her title is) at the library, Suzanne Scott, handles all the logistics/contracts/money/political stuff. That means from September to November every year for me has become kind of like a marathon (though it really starts in the spring with the conception of the commemorative comic book I edit and publish for the festival, which is a whole different topic). And the finish line is just about two days away, beyond which sleep and, well, catching up on deadlines awaits.

But I would love to see your smiling faces before then, at the VVCBF on Saturday. I’ll be running the Pop! Goes the Icon tables, at which we’ll be launching the aforementioned commemorative, benefit comic, Tales from Fremont Street (which actually soft-launched last night). Most of the contributors to that fine volume will be at our tables signing and sketching and chatting. We’ll also have, of course, the full line of PGTI goodies, including our most recent trade paperbacks. So grab your kids and loved ones, throw on something geeky, and spend Saturday morning/afternoon with me at the Comic Book Festival. It’s FREE, y’all.

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!

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.

Discussing the art and business of self-publishing with Keith Knight and Ryan Claytor. (Photo by Katrina Miller)

Well, I did it. I broke myself. I kind of knew it would happen, but I was hoping it wouldn’t: I managed to pull through the last few weeks of whirlwind activity and then my body finally gave out upon waking Sunday morning. It’s my usual change-of-season cold (because, of course, the temperature dropped drastically on Sunday as well), but I’m sure it also had something to do with the self-abuse of this past weekend’s shenanigans. But everything went spectacularly well, and despite the stress, it was about as fun as it comes.

Friday — after running around all day with last-minute prep for the weekend’s festivities — we opened the “Inside the Boneyard” original art exhibit at Blackbird Studios during First Friday. It was also the first chance anyone had to get their hands on a physical copy of Tales from the Boneyard. The turnout was great, both for our show, and for the Day of the Dead exhibit in the front of the gallery (in which I also have a terrible piece of art). We sold a bunch of comics, and I sold at least a few pieces of original art. Very exciting! Both shows will be on display through the end of November, so I suggest you waste no time and head to 1551 S. Commerce St. to check them out!

I cut out of the reception early to run over to the Double Down Saloon (OK, so I drove, whatever) to talk comics, music and other shenanigans on Double Down Radio. It’s a pretty impressive set-up they have over there. I expected one dude with a laptop and Radio Shack microphone. But there are actually producers, hosts, call-in lines and all sorts of other fancy broadcasting things going on. Of course, it’s all done while downing shots and beer, but still, impressive. Self-described Star Wars fanatic Dave Prophet hosts the Friday night live shows, and I had a great time just hanging out and talking smack. If you want to hear the program, you can get the full, two-hour episode here, though I don’t come on until about 1:21 (that’s an hour twenty-one).

Saturday morning was a bit of a rough start, as the Double Down was not my last stop the night before, and it got rougher when I failed to find an envelope holding about $125 in petty cash I needed for the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, where I needed to be set-up by about 10 a.m. Thankfully, because of sales the previous night at the gallery reception, there was enough cash in that box to get through the day, but misplacing that much cash wasn’t happy news either way (it eventually turned up, two days later).

The festival itself was awesome. We sold copies of Tales from the Boneyard like gangbusters — a feat I owe a lot of credit to the supportive local press, who have been promoting the anthology for almost two months — and my other Pop! Goes the Icon titles didn’t sell too shabbily either. I also sat on my first convention-style panel, a self-publishing discussion with the great Keith Knight and Ryan Claytor. The room was packed, and we must have talked for well over an hour, mostly answering dozens of questions from the crowd.

This year’s festival was packed with people, and felt way too short. I mean, it’s only five hours anyway, but those five hours went by insanely fast. Last year’s event was good, too, but I recall having a few more periods of downtime. Of course, I didn’t have two tables to run or panels on which to sit. It was great to connect with so many people, and I predict next year’s event will just be even more fun.

There was little time to breathe in between the end of the festival (from which I departed at 5 p.m.) and band rehearsal at 6 p.m. It was the first time we were able to practice with our singer Tim in almost a month, and also the first time he’d performed with our former/temporary guitarist Rick in more than a year. But Rick, Mark and I had been practicing nearly every other day, and Tim jumped right into the mix. We blazed through our set relatively error-free, and packed up to head for Brass Lounge downtown, where we were playing the release party for both the Boneyard comic and Dead Neon: Tales from Near-Future Las Vegas.

Despite fears that we’d clear out the room of Saturday night revelers whom Kirby Krackle (which was just a solo, acoustic Kyle Stevens) warmed up, getting them dancing, our performance actually went really well — maybe the best in years. I don’t know if it was Rick’s (temporary) return, the energy of the crowd, the free drinks, or what, but people were actually dancing to our rock-metal-punk attack, and inexplicably cheering. Of course, that was nothing compared to our follow-up act, Jarret Keene’s Dead Neon, which was the obvious main draw of the night. The trio’s post-apocalyptic sludge metal was strangely hypnotic, infectious and grooving, and some hardcore fans were actually hanging on every growling word from Jarret’s mouth.

The final band of the night, 11K, featured a few members from Dead Neon, but its sound was more indie-dream-rock than death metal. Still, it’s a shame so many people left after Dead Neon finished, because 11K put on a great set, and I was kind of sad to learn the band only reunited for that night’s performance (most of the same line-up appears in Minor Suns, who was supposed to play originally).

All in all, it was a good night. We sold a few more copies of Boneyard, and hopefully impressed the booking agent at Brass to invite As Yet Unbroken to perform in the future. Of course, we’re at another crux, as our full-time guitarist parted ways with the band a few weeks ago (hence Rick’s pinch-hitting appearance). Much as we did about this time last year, we’ll probably focus on recording before diving back into the search for a new guitar player. Or, you know, just build a guitar-playing robot. Hmm …

I’m taking it relatively easy this week, though this mild cold I have is also kind of forcing me to do so. I’ve been trying to plug away at my NaNoWriMo entry, but apparently, I’m a slow writer. Also: Brain borked the last few days. I do have one event to attend this week, but I’ll talk about that more tomorrow. Back to my headache and work …

Friday night: We’re holding the opening reception for “Inside the Boneyard,” a showing of original art and concepts from Tales from the Boneyard, at Blackbird Studios (1551 S. Commerce St.) from 6 to 10 p.m. It’s also the first chance to get your hands on a copy of the comic. Bring cash and hugs. But if you want to catch me there, do so before 8 p.m., because after that, I’m heading to the Double Down Saloon to talk comic books with Dave Prophet on Double Down Radio. If you’re in front of an internet box from 8 to 10 p.m., you can listen live, but I think there’ll also be a podcast link after the fact, which you KNOW I’ll link to.

Saturday afternoon: The Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival! Duh! From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Clark County Library (1401 E. Flamingo Road), I’ll be floating around between the Pop! Goes the Icon table, Tales from the Boneyard table and artist jam, as well as speaking on a self-publishing panel at 12:45 p.m. (I think, not sure on the time). It’s all free, and it’s family-friendly, so get your butts down there!

Saturday night: You’ll want to be at Brass Lounge (425 E. Fremont St., upstairs) starting about 9 p.m., where Kirby Krackle, Dead Neon, Minor Suns and As Yet Unbroken will rock hard to celebrate the release of both Tales from the Boneyard and Dead Neon: Tales from Near-Future Las Vegas. Yes, the band in which I play drums is playing a party to celebrate the release of a comic in which I appear. I didn’t plan it that way. Jarret Keene did. And God bless him for doing so. It’s free! So just come down and rock and buy books and comics and booze and stuff.

Sunday: I’ll be sleeping, watching Smallville and catching up on NaNoWriMo. So leave me alone.

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.

Two great fists, one great party

So, yeah, as evidence by the photo above, I wrapped up Detox Week 2010 at one of the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino’s Palazzo Suites celebrating the 10th anniversary of Penn & Teller in Las Vegas … completely clean and sober. And having a grand time.

(That’s the one-and-only Brandy Bell in the photo with me, as if you needed to be told.)

Thus concluded another successful, and relatively painless, eschewing of processed and animal-based foods/beverages. I don’t know if the going went easier because this session was only seven days (as opposed to the 10-day stretch last December), or if it was because I had already acclimated to reduced crap/carb consumption (I can’t tell you the last time I bought a loaf of bread), but it did, and while I’ll be happy to eat a little bit less restrictively, I am again left with a sense that some permanent change will remain.

Every time I do some regimented routine to improve my health, it seems to have small after-effects. Like when I did the From Couch to 5k deal — while I did expect to run occasionally, I didn’t expect it to be something I continued to crave often. And I expect to see more lasting, subtle impact from Detox Week 2010 as well.

Yesterday was a bit of a rush, as I darted about doing more prep for my trip this weekend, and more promotion for the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, about which you’ll hear a lot from me next week. Last night, I went to the studios of KUNV with Deryl Skelton to appear on Nate Tannenbaum’s “Playing Favorites” program. It’s a combination interview/music show, in which — as the title indicates — guests play their favorite songs. Deryl and I talked about Tales from the Boneyard and the Comic Book Festival as well as ourselves, but Deryl really stole the show with his always-entertaining personal stories derived from 30 years of working as an artist in comic books, syndicated strips and commercial illustration. The program airs next Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. on 91.5-FM here in Vegas (or stream that baby here).

After that, it was off to the mall to do my civic duty and VOTE. Yes, kids, I consider it a duty, not a right. Engagement in this country’s political process is the only way to have a voice, so if you’re not personally running for public office, you’d better make sure you’re making your choice for who is. Early voting continues through this week, but if you’re not already registered, well, you suck. (Unless you’re under 18. Then you get a pass.)

After snarfing down some bad veggies and rice from a food court vendor (they only had fried rice, not steamed, so I barely ate any of it, poking around to avoid egg), I zipped over to the Rio for the after-show party for Penn & Teller. It was a lovely affair, decorated for the Halloween season, attended by the usual suspects plus just about every comedian and magician in town, but the best part? The SOUNDTRACK. (Because I mixed it.) But really: Good times.

I barely slept last night due to a combo of getting in late and our dogs being assholes as usual, so I was way too pooped for a run this morning. Tonight will continue shenanigans, as an emergency band practice has been scheduled due to some last-minute personnel changes for next week’s Brass Lounge gig (more on that … next week), and then I have to pack up to drive out to SoCal tomorrow, so … yeah. Geez, and I still haven’t even really talked about that here, have I? I will later, for real.

So, with that, I leave you with Day Seven’s post-menu. Enjoy, and thanks for playing:

• Breaksfast: One gala apple, one cup Dynamo juice blend
• Morning snack: Apple pie flavor Larabar
• Lunch: Trader Joe’s lentil and vegetable soup
• Afternoon snacks: Raw almonds/walnuts, carrots and hummus, celery and peanut butter
• Pre-dinner snack: One banana
• Dinner: Steamed, mixed veggies over rice (see above, bleh)
• Late-night snack: A few dried papaya spears
• Beverages: Water, a sip or two of Kombucha, about a serving of Green Protein juice blend

Nah. I’ve just been working.

One of the things I’ve been working on is an article in this week’s Vegas Seven about the relative success of local comic book shops, especially in the face of our struggling economy. I think it turned out pretty well, and there’s a lovely picture of Ralph Mathieu inside the new location of Alternate Reality Comics accompanying it, so you should go read it.

The other things I’ve been working on … well, it’s almost tiring to think about it. I mean, my eyelids are even sagging as I type this. Let’s go to list form:

• Playing shows again with As Yet Unbroken. We went from no gigs for nine months (while we shifted membership) to five gigs in two months. And we’re in the process of recording a proper EP, something that takes a lot longer than expected when all of us have day jobs/lives/vacations/side projects/health crises/potty breaks. But it’s getting done. I’d check out the AYU website for more info on upcoming events and whatnot.
• Making art. I mean, aside from comics (which we’ll talk about in a minute). For whatever reason, people becoming aware (or being reminded) of my semi-ability to draw has led me to be invited to group art shows. There was that LVSK8 show earlier in the summer for which I painted a terrible piece, and now I’m coming back again with an original creation for a zombie-themed show at Blackbird Studios (formerly Place Gallery) in October. I’m still not quite done with it, and the show is being hung next week, so I kinda need to get on that. But it’ll be sweet when it’s done. I hope. I’ll also be at First Friday with my own Outdoor Exhibition Space next week (Oct. 1), showing original art from Tales from the Boneyard, and promoting the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival. Speaking of which …
• I’ve been on the planning committee for the aforementioned Comic Book Festival for the last two years, but this year, my involvement has been amped up by volunteering to publish, edit and contribute to Tales from the Boneyard, an anthology of local creators to benefit the Festival’s benefactor, the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District. I know I’ve mentioned it here before, but let me just say that it is turning out way more awesome than I ever could have expected. But don’t take my word for it, see for yourself.
• Oh, comics, right. Well, in addition to the Boneyard book, there’s a fourth issue of The Utopian and a third issue of Omega Comics Presents both coming out in the next few months, and rumor has it you can go ahead and pre-order them at the Pop! Goes the Icon website right now. I’ve got a few other things up my sleeve, but mainly, once these two issues and the Boneyard anthology are out the gate, it’s mini-hiatus time for the Peej, as I recover from what feels like a six-month marathon. You know, before I start another one.

That’s pretty much it. I’ve also been trying to find time to work on a major redesign of this website that would take the focus off this blog and put it on the work itself (a portfolio, I suppose), but uh yeah right. In the meantime, thanks for reading and bless your face.*

*Sorry, Toby.

The top panel on this page I’m working on has taken me about three days to just get that far in rendering. Obviously, not three days straight, but three days of about two hours at a stretch. It’s the last bit of inking I need to finish for my contribution to Tales from the Boneyard, the one-shot (well, possibly annually recurring) anthology comic book I volunteered to publish and edit for the 2010 Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival.

You can learn a heck more about the comic at the official website, which also features the first chapter of the anthology, an amazing story by newcomer Barret Thomson. He’s set the bar high, but that’s good, because it goes to prove the awesome collection of homespun talent we have here in Las Vegas (though, sadly, Barret is moving to South Korea to teach for an undetermined amount of time). This project has sucked up a good amount of my time lately, between wrangling freelancers, building the website, doing public relations and marketing, editing and, as evidenced above (and in previous posts), completing my own eight-page tale, which will make its web debut on Aug. 15.

At the same time, the band has started recording tracks for our forthcoming debut EP, the Utopian is careening headlong into its final chapter, and as soon as I finish the Tales from the Boneyard story, I have to dive back into finishing the third chapter of “Omega” for Omega Comics Presents #3, which is supposed to be released this fall, assuming my head doesn’t implode by then. Oh, on top of that, TV and comic book writer Mark Guggenheim went off and announced a new comic book he’s created for release this November, coincidentally titled Utopian. So as you might imagine, I’ve spent some time talking to lawyers the last week as well.

It’s all a bit overwhelming, but at the very least, most of these projects have termination dates in the foreseeable future. The Utopian (erm, mine, not the Johnny-come-lately) will finish its year-and-a-half web run in September or October, just in time for a fourth and final print issue to make its appearance, and then — assuming I still have the rights to that name by then — fully collected as one complete work in a trade paperback collection in the winter, hopefully in time for Christmakwanukah. At which time all of you who have been holding out on reading The Utopian (yes, I’m looking at you, Sara) will have no excuse not to enjoy 100-plus pages of all the teen dramatic fantasy you can handle, in full blazing color.

Whew. I’m kind of tired just typing all this. Or maybe I’m tired from working on that stupid, overly detailed panel above for the last few hours. More soon.

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.