These were snapped on my camera at San Diego this last Summer.
(Matt. Creature from the Black Lagoon.)

(Matt. Seven Soldiers of Victory.)

(Matt. Thor.)

(Matt. Starman.)

(Matt. Mitch Pistolwhip.)

(Matt. Spider-Man.)

(Matt. The Bride, from Kill Bill.)

(Matt. Havoc, from The X-Men.)

(Jeff. Steeplechase, from The Surrogates.)

(Jeff. Tin Tin.)

(Jeff. Deadman... Jeff gave me this one! Whoo hoo!)

• Bwana Spoons' new Cosmos Killer toy!

• Max Estes is having a Christmas Sale at his website, Made By Max.

Giant Robot L.A. That's correct y'all.
Little Paintings 3 at GR2
November 15 - December 10
Reception: Saturday, November 15, 6:30 -10:00

Giant Robot 2. 2062 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025. gr2.net. (310) 445-9276

Indie cartoonist James Kochalka is well known for having a raw, humorous, and powerful style and prolific pace; he draws one diary strip a day for his Web site, and still manages to create an ever-growing catalog of graphic novels. His range extends from the autobiographical (American Elf) to kid-friendly (Johnny Boo) to serious (The Cute Manifesto) to raunchy (SuperF*ckers) to iconic (Monkey vs. Robot). His comix work has won four Ignatz awards and one Harvey award. He is widely regarded as the inventor of the daily-diary comic strip, and has inspired countless younger artists.

The Burlington, VT-based artist has also released several CDs with his band, James Kochalka Superstar. His song "Britney's Silver Can" was named one of the 100 best songs of 2006 by Rolling Stone, and his song "Hockey Monkey" was used as the theme song for the Fox television sitcom The Loop.

For Little Paintings 3, Kochalka is supplementing his acrylic 2" x 2" paintings on 3" x 3" paper with a few that are comparatively large. "There are a few that are 4" x 4" and some that are 6" x 6". Still little compared with the rest of the paintings of the world, but they'll feel giant in the context of my world," he says. Some recurring themes include royal cats, adventurous blobs, and tumors, happy apples, and crazy worms.

The multitude will not be framed but are quite suitable for framing. "I'm kind of against posters. I think people should have real art made by real human hands in their homes" Kochalka says of his small and affordably priced paintings.

A reception from 6:30 to 10:00 on Saturday, November 15 will include a special performance of music composed by the artist on his Game Boy.

• Going back to APE, the weekend before the election (Whoo hoo OBAMA!!!)..., San Francisco was great fun (especially tending bar at Isotope — damn, i got myself pretty hammered),

Here's Wayne Shellabarger and Bill Kelter pimping their amazing new book Veeps.

And here's the loot i brought home. (Sadly, no time yet to read most of it.)

But what made the weekend for me, was my little man Carter, and his Halloween appearance as Batman. This photoset shows his transformation.

• Meanwhile, this weekend just past Top Shelf exhibited (Leigh manned the table most of the weekend, since i was on Kid Watch) at the annual Portland book fair called Wordstock. A quick observation... Portland is widely (and justifiably) known as a book-loving city. The organizers promoted the heck out of this event. Flyers, posters, and exhibition catalogs have been anywhere and everywhere for the last six weeks. Heck, they even got the likes of John Hodgman, Lynda Barry and Alison Bechdel to come and read. And yet, the place was a ghost town virtually all weekend. Yes, the big-name panels were well attended, but the isles were barren. What gives?

In any case, i had fun in spite of myself. And i FINALLY picked up the stunning Local deluxe hardcover by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly. I'd read most of the issues as they were (slowly) coming out, but had yet to read the last three. Just finished these tonight after i tucked Carter into bed. Holy crap, this is such a terrific book. From concept, to execution. From content to packaging. Simply magnificent! Highly recommended.

• This is quite possibly the coolest fanboy shit i've EVER seen. (I used to be lead tenor in the high school jazz choir, AND a massive fanboy of all the movies referenced in this video — except for E.T. God, i hate that flick.)

• Finally, more Kochalka. Here is an early rough for James' cover for the 2009 Top Shelf Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) comic book, and then his final. Well done, James!

Heading to Alternative Press Expo this weekend? Top Shelf's West Coast dream team, Leigh Walton and Brett Warnock, will be at tables 320-322 all weekend, together with the following creators:
--Jeffrey Brown (SULK #1 starring Bighead & Friends!)
--Renée French (THE TICKING, MICROGRAPHICA)
--Robert Goodin (THE MAN WHO LOVED BREASTS)
--Bill Kelter and Wayne Shellabarger (VEEPS: PROFILES IN INSIGNIFICANCE)
--Nate Powell (SWALLOW ME WHOLE)
--Liz Prince (DELAYED REPLAYS)

And don't forget to come by Isotope on Saturday night for Top Shelf Happy Hour at 8pm, leading into the Isotope Award for Minicomics! Brett Warnock will be shaking up the tasty drinks, while Nate Powell rocks a live art jam with Joshua W. Cotter! You can't miss it!

See you there, everybody!

James Kochalka Superstar!

10 Years of his incredibly influential American Elf daily diary strip. Wow, that's freaking cool as hell. Big ups to you, James!

• Jeff Lemire appears on the podcast Comic Geek Speak.

• Occasional Top Shelf freelancer Chris Ross had this to say, regarding his type decision on our awesome new book Veeps:

Veeps is set in a typeface called Adobe Caslon Pro. From my research, I found that Benjamin Franklin, in addition to being a ladykiller drunk, and perennial not-veep, was a printer. He had two favorite typefaces: Baskerville (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baskerville), which many typesetters of the day called "illegible" and a typeface called Caslon. And it was Caslon that Franklin chose when he typeset the mass-produced "Declaration of Independence." The unique properties in Veeps are the ligatures, which I've jumped up to eleven to reach for the hyperbolic nature of the text. It's noticeable as being archaic and boosie, but once you finish the introduction, you definitely get in on the joke. This specific typeface, Adobe Caslon Pro, is the closest and most complete recreation of the typeface that I could find. When I read Bill's words, and saw Wayne's portraits, and saw what Brett had in mind with the decorative elements, this whimsical voice of you three (plus the specter of Staros) came out, Borg-like. It sounded like Caslon.

• Speaking of Veeps, check out this extensive interview with Bill and Wayne by Tim O'Shea.

• And just to add some color to this post... YAM author Corey Barba does more than cute kid's stuff. He's also done some racy adult entertainment (with the Fantagraphics porn line Eros, for example). Here's a boss little image titled Lipstick Bikini.

Alex Robinson's video interview with Jonah Weiland is up on Comic Book Resources. I got to attend this interview and suck down some suds on the infamous CBR Party Yacht in the San Diego Marina. Now THAT's the way to do San Diego!

• So, here's a piece by Eric Powell, and two by Jim Rugg, which was supposed to run in a reprinted edition of Doug TenNaple's Top Shelf graphic novel Creature Tech. Oh, but wait, Doug took it away from Top Shelf, in spite of the fact that Chris did a mighty tight job story-editing the book into the kick-ass version it ended up being. Sadly, these images will now never see print. I'm going to have to style Eric and Jim with some Top Shelf swag next time i see them.

• Nate Powell is interviewed at my favorite podcast, Indie Spinner Rack!

• Nifty new piece by David Chelsea.

• Tom Hart, Matthew Thurber and Lauren Weinstein are in a show of original art together called GODDESS, MOUSE and MAN at the brand new 92nd St Y Tribeca.

• Finally, i must mention my favorite new comic in a long time. I'd heard some folks talking about this at the San Diego Con, so i picked it up on a whim. Matt Furie's Boys Club might be something of a guys comic, but holy crap, it is awesome. Containing the mostly 1-3 page self-contained adventures (?) of four slacker, 20-something roommates, the first issue was self-published, while the second issue was picked up by Buenaventura Press. On paper this comic shouldn't be anything more than stupid poop jokes. But there's something very real about these characters. At various points in my life i've lived with, or been any one of these cats. Matt uses lots of fun formal techniques to add odd layers to his humor. Ultimately, i'm having a hard time describing this. Needless to say, both issues come highly recommended.

WHAT'S THAT UP IN THE SKY?!

It's Bobby Kennedy and Greg Palast releasing the flaming hot full-color investigative comic book, STEAL BACK YOUR VOTE!

Pow! Zap! No more joking with our rights, Mr. Rove!

Click here and get the 24-page investigative comic book by Greg Palast and Bobby Kennedy: STEAL BACK YOUR VOTE.

With the full story of the investigation you'll soon see in Rolling Stone magazine - illustrated by razor-sharp pencils of Ted Rall, Lukas Ketner and Lloyd Dangle.

SIX ways they're STEALING your vote - and SEVEN ways to STEAL IT BACK.

(C'mon - 'fess up - do you really know what to do if they hand you a 'provisional' ballot?)

Make a $100 tax deductible donation at StealBackYourVote.org and we'll send you 25 to pass out to troublemakers of your choice.

And, for every $100 donation, we will give away another 400 to voters to vulnerable voters in swing states. We just sent eight cases to Santiago Juarez. Santiago's working with young Hispanic voters of New Mexico.

Can you help us send him more? Or donate $75+ and get a half dozen comix plus the DVD (signed), The Election Files, my BBC reports on the vote snatchers.

Pick up 10 copies of the guide for a donation of $50. We send'm right away by priority mail.

Get five hundred copies for your local school or group for a $1000 donation at www.palastinvestigativefund.org/print-copies-of-steal-back-your-vote.

Or give us the donation, we'll send'm to a church designated by our co-sponsor Jesse Jackson's Operation Rainbow/PUSH.

Thanks to your prior generosity, we're offering the printing plates FREE of any fee to us to any magazine or weekly that wants to insert comic. (You want to reproduce the guide on a mass scale - you got it. Contact zach (at) gregpalast.com)

Or you can download the comic for a donation of a penny or more (more, PLEASE), at www.StealBackYourVote.org.

Spread this link! Pow! Zap! Take that, Katherine! Steal Back Your Vote is a project of the not-for-profit non-partisan Palast Investigative Fund.

WHAT'S THAT UP IN THE SKY?! It's our Super Sponsors! Voto Latino, Operation Rainbow Push, Air America Radio, Juan Gonzales of Democracy Now! and other crusaders for Truth, Justice and the American Way.

Contact us at interviews (at) StealBackYourVote.org.

Getting caught up, finally. Even though the change of venue has changed the dynamic of the old locale, this is still one of my favorite comics festivals North America has to offer. Hands down. Special props to my great friend Greg Bennett, who helped pull me out of a special kind of tailspin. I love you, m'man!

Here's a smattering of what i picked up at the show. No time for even bullet reviews... needless to say, i read this stuff at the airport and on two planes back home. In keeping with my tendencies towards dreaded "Team Comics" boosterism, i won't waste my time or yours talking about lame books, instead focusing on the good shit. So if you read about it here, that means it comes recommended.

Inside, by J.P. Coovert. Published by One Percent Press.

Teeny Bikini #5, by Rob Ullman. (Self-published.) Image below is a terrific print he made for the show, titled Stir Crazy.

Papercutter #8. Edited by the great Greg Means. Published by Tugboat Press. (Also just finally read Papercutter #7... easily my favorite anthology being published today. Kramers what?)

Do Not Disturb My Waking Dream #2, by Laura Park. (Self-published.) It's only a mtter of time until Laura is hailed as one of the greatest cartoonists in the history of the United States. She deserved won the Ignatz Award at the show for Outstanding Artist. Whoo hoo!

The Quest for the Missing Girl, by Jiro Taniguchi. Published by Ponent Mon. STUNNING! (Have i ever mentioned how much i love this author, my favorite manga cartoonist of all time? Oh, i have?) Special thanks to Deb, whom i met for the first time at the show.

:01 First Second: Great Graphic Novels for Everyone. This is a little mini-comic done by Editorial Director Mark Siegel.

The Factoids, by Dan Zettwoch, Ted May, and Kevin Huizenga. Published by U.S.S. Catastrophe?

Dharbin #1, by Dustin Harbin. (Self-published.)

Fight or Run, by Kevin Huizenga. Published by Buenaventura Press.

Bets Are Off, by Nate Powell / flipbook / Cakewalk, by Rachel Bormann and Nate Powell. (Self-published.)

Mesmo Delivery, by Rafael Grampa'. Published by AdHouse. (This is so freaking amazing!)

Fierce Ease, by Miriam Libicki. (Self-published.) I'm so into Miriam's incredibly beautiful drawn essays.

• Bwana Spoons has a spectacular new print available at Grass Hut!

• Here's an early rough by James Kochalka for the 2009 Top Shelf Free Comic Book Day comic.

• From the classified dossier on (Veeps authors) Bill Kelter and Wayne Shellabarger, a photo has turned up with them in attendance at the swearing in of LBJ... seriously, these guys are such wonks! (And there's Jackie Kennedy, no less!)

• McCain / Palin? Oh sweet Jesus help us all.

in the new Diamond Previews.

Page 202: Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!, by Scott Morse. Published by AdHouse. The cover here says all you need to know.

Page 292: The Quest for the Missing Girl, by Jiro Taniguchi. Published by Potent / Fanfare. I think Taniguchi is probably the most underrated manga master in North America. The storytelling is sublime, and his art is transcendental.

The following message is not a part of Previews. I lifted it from the web, because it is awesome.

but if was in Portland, i'd check this event, On the Margins, at Floating World Comics out in a heartbeat. Dunja Jankovic's comics are sublime and haunting.

• James Kochalka gets some love at SPX (In Conversation with Heidi MacDonald), even while Top Shelf gets snubbed with not a single Ignatz Award nomination.

• The new Frazetta hardcover, Telling Tales, FINALLY came out... nice package, but oh god, why did they add such horrifically garish colors to Frazetta's insanely delicate and sublime brushwork? (Of which he did far too little.) I haven't read into the text yet, but let's presume two possibilities. The editor had access to high-quality material for a particular strip from which he could scan, and reproduce the artwork. In this case — and it certainly seems this to be the case — the art should have been reproduced in b&w. If on the other hand high-quality material was not on hand, then a far better option would have been to scan the actual comics pages where they ran in the first place. No doubt line quality may be lost, but the undeniably cool look of the page as a lush relic, yellowing pages, and crude-yet-terrific half-tone coloring and all make up for said loss. A great example of this is the Art Spiegleman / Chip Kidd presentation of a choice sampling of work in their book Jack Cole and the Plastic Man. Another fine example of this methodology of archiving used to good effect is in the more recent Sheena: Queen of the Jungle collection, published by Devil's Due. (The star attraction being, for this viewer, of course the contributions of Matt Baker.)

• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' new Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! is an instant masterpiece. Wow...

• Also, decidedly NOT comics, and because i can't help it; This Week in Conservatism.

• And finally, more killer art from Max Estes.

with Brian Heater has wrapped at Daily Cross Hatch.

And speaking of Nate, geez, does this guy ever sleep? He just launched a smashing new website.

• In the better-late-than-never category, after what seems like years, i've finally found a day to pour over a ton of convention purchases, submissions, and what have you that have been piling up. A book Rex, by Danijel Zezelj was in the mix. I've read some of this guy's short form material in anthologies here and there. I thought it was o.k. but not so much as to live up to the hype. Well this sucker is like a fucking roundhouse kick to the face, pumping with high energy jams. And his art here seems MUCH more nuanced... a better use of grey tones that what i've seen before. Big thanks to publisher Jason Thibault at Optimum Wound comics for the hook-up.

• Our Top Shelf pals at Grass Hut are fishing for an intern. These cats are as cool as it comes, let me tell you. (Two weekends ago i attended a terrific opening for the brilliant L.A. based artist Andrew Brandou. Local Southern-style restaurant Screen Door made waffles peach-foster style... i thought i'd died and gone to heaven.)

Join the Grass Hut family. Be a part of an art movement bigger then the individuals involved. Learn the hands on nitty gritty skills to run an independent art market.
-Work with artists from Portland and all over the world.
-See how a tiny business handles international business.
-Understand DIY art marketing byway of street cred.
-Practice basic graphic design (website, postcards, posters)
-Have fun.
-Use the studio to paint and drawl.

To learn more simply contact Bwana Spoons or Justin “Scrappers” Morrison. Grass Hut (Art Market). 811 E. Burnside. Portland, Oregon. (503) 445-9924.

Grasshut@grasshutcorp.com

• Max Estes sure is staying busy, and cranking out choice pieces of art. Go. Buy.

• Veeps gets reviewed in the new issue of webmag, Comics Waiting Room, and at Omnivoracious too.

can be read at Comics Should Be Good.

• Nate Powell's book tour for Swallow Me Whole had a couple slight changes. Here are the final tour dates, as well as some boss art he created for this too.

*10/4-5 @ SPX, North Bethesda, MD
*10/7 @ Ada Books, Providence RI. 7pm.
*10/8 @ Million Year Picnic, Cambridge MA. 5pm.
*10/9 @ Giant Robot, New York NY.
*10/10 @ Rocketship Comics, Brooklyn NY.
*10/17 @ Boxcar Books, Bloomington IN.
*10/18 @ Quimby's, Chicago IL.
*10/25 @ Floating World, Portland OR.
*10/26 @ Comics Dungeon, Seattle WA.
*10/29 @ Comic Relief, Berkeley CA. 5-7pm.
*11/1-2 @ APE, San Francisco CA.
*11/1 @ Isotope, San Francisco CA. night time.
*11/13 @ Bizarro Comics, Athens GA. 3-6pm.
*11/22 @ Vintage Phoenix, Bloomington IN.
*11/28 @ Collector's Edition, North Little Rock AR.

• David Chelsea has a beautiful new web site.
Here's some art i nabbed from it.

• Steve Lafler has been painting like a fiend! Check it out!

• Here's a nifty little movie from Grass Hut.

• A tip of the hat to Benton Jew (one half of the outstanding and criminally underrated Jew Bros.) for the lead on his blog about the vintage Space Ghost dvd set, which features a documentary on the legendary Alex Toth. The doc isn't perfect by any means (cheesy effects, maudlin music, etc.), but it was a wonderful window into one of comics' masterminds. Well worth watching.

• Previews Picks for the month of September. (If it's not too late to make a difference.)
-Land of the Giants lunchbox. I saw one of these at San Diego, and man are they cool.

-Vintage illustration lovers (like myself) should be palpitating with the news of two forthcoming hardcovers; monographs for Norman Sounders and Reynold Brown.

-TwoMorrows continues with two more creator spotlights in their Modern Masters series. And while i only have roughly half of the series thus far, i will indeed be picking up the new ones featuring Mike Ploog and Kyle Baker.

-Sweet! The Adventures of Tintin, Hardcover Boxed Set!

-Stan's Soapbox. Verily, True Believers, all of Stan Lee's hyperbolic editorials from the late 60s and 70's in under one cover! I freaking lapped these up as a kid... Kudos!

-Fuzz & Pluck: Splitsville, by Ted Stearn. (Fantagraphics.)
Well, this series took forever and a day to be completed, but this great book is well worth the wait. Awesome awesome stuff.

-OMFG! The complete Blazing Combat Hardcover! Holy crap, this is great news! Also, from the fine folks at Fantagraphics.

-The Venice Chronicles hardcover, by Enrico Casarosa. (AdHouse Books.) I've had the pleasure of reading this, and it's gorgeous! Buy this book.

-Rejoice!! The second mammoth oversized slipcased hardcover of Kirkman, Adlard, and Rathburn's Walking Dead is coming. One of the greatest comics of all time. Serously.

Now that both Obama and McCain have announced their VP picks, the media are stuck on 'em 24/7... but we know a couple of guys who have been Veep-crazy since Sarah Palin was modeling swimwear!

The hilariously cynical Bill Kelter, author of the upcoming Top Shelf book Veeps: Profiles in Insignificance, has been blogging up a storm over at www.veeps.us. Meanwhile his partner in crime, Wayne Shellabarger, has whipped up two more killer portraits in the style of the 46 that appear throughout Veeps, celebrating the nominations of Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. Check 'em out!

Veeps is scheduled to hit in late October... just in time for the election (and 47th Veep)!

• Well Bill, Wayne and myself are back from the Denver location shoot on Road to Insignificance, the film about the life & times of Veeps author's Bill Kelter and Wayne Shellabarger. And while we didn't get to attend any actual events, the streets were alive with activity.

With principle shooting wrapped, i'm now totally stoked to see a rough cut of this baby, although editing won't begin until November. We've been playing this close to the vest somewhat, and as a straight documentary, but it's bound to come out sooner than later that while the core of Bill and Wayne's friendship is the real deal, we're straying from the truth in this film. Oh, and i'm the director.

Meanwhile, Bill made yet another guest appearance a few days ago on KPOJ, the Air America affiliate here in Portland. Awesome!

• Top Shelf 2.0 contributor Joe Decie put up this terrific strip on Webcomics Nation.

• James Kochalka did this freaky fun Fantastic Four page (issue #9, page 17) on commission.

• Peter Kuper is editing the next issue of WW3. I do believe it's a wordless issue. This stunning Eric Drooker cover boggles, as his covers always do.

• Rich Koslowski informs me that Top Shelf is well-represented in a new book called 500 Essential Graphic Novels, by old Top Shelf friend Gene Kannenberg, Jr.

The following Top Shelf books made the cut:
• THREE FINGERS in the "Fantasy" category (Rich Koslowski)
• BOX OFFICE POISON & TRICKED "general fiction" (Alex Robinson)
• GOODBYE CHUNKY RICE "general fiction" & BLANKETS "non-fiction" (Craig Thomspon)
• HEY MISTER "humor" (Pete Sickman-Garner)
• HUTCH OWEN "humor" (Tom Hart)
• LOST GIRLS "general fiction" (Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie)
• MONKEY VS ROBOT "humor" (James Kochalka)
• OWLY "adventure" (Andy Runton)
• SAME DIFFERENCE "general fiction" (Derek Kirk Kim)

• Besides that his work kicks serious quantities of ass, Nate Powell is every publishers dream. He arranged and schedule the following promotional tout in support of the forthcoming Swallow Me Whole, AND is designing and producing a 2-color screenprinted poster for this as well. Here is his tour schedule, and a rough design for the poster.

9/26: gallery show, Sweet Hickory, Bloomington IN (featuring pages from SMW and other stuff)
10/4-5: SPX
10/7: Ada Books, Providence RI
10/8: Million Year Picnic, Cambridge MA
10/9: Giant Robot, New York NY
10/10: Rocketship Comics, Brooklyn NY (TBC)
10/11: Desert Island, Brooklyn NY (TBC)
10/18: Quimby's, Chicago IL
10/19: Boxcar Books, Bloomington IN
10/25: Floating World, Portland OR
10/26: Comics Dungeon, Seattle WA
10/30: Comic Relief, Berkeley CA (TBC)
11/1-2: APE
11/1: Isotope, San Francisco CA
11/11: TBA, Savannah GA
11/12 or 13: Bizarro, Athens GA
11/22: Vintage Phoenix, Bloomington IN
11/28: Collector's Edition, North Little Rock AR

I've been very VERY busy as of late, so apologies for the long wait between updates. I've been following a documentary film crew around, which is making a film about Bill Kelter and Wayne Shellabarger, the authors of our very own non-fiction history book, Veeps: Profiles in Insignificance. It's been a great deal of fun and i'm having a terrific time, but wow am i exhausted. I have a brand new appreciation for filmmaking, and how hard these crew members work. We'll try and get a teaser and/or trailer for the film up soon. Working title — Road to Insignificance.

And speaking of Bill Kelter, his and Wayne's book just got some more props on nothing less than the uber-wonky Congressional Quarterly!

• Meanwhile, old pal and wonderful cartoonist Josue (Broken Fender) Menjivar got some ink for his more recent work at Pretty Fakes. Check out Josue's site Fresh Brewed Illustration.

• I don't read Spanish, but i did receive an email from an outfit in Spain called Polaqia, i think via an aquaintance name Kike Benlloch. These covers for some new comics sure looks swell though.

• Marc Mason of Comics Waiting Room interviews Jeff Lemire at ComiCon!

• James Kochalka's nifty new American Elf ad for an upcoming issue of The Comics Journal.

• More Pat Moriarity goodness:
"Here's where you can get the brand new Crustacean Records double DVD featuring my package design, poster, and a 10 minute video featurette about me, plus about 5 HOURS of high quality video footage of killer midwest rock acts. (Bands like MAD TRUCKER GONE MAD, AWESOME SNAKES, THE SKINTONES, DRUNK DRIVERS, LADY BEARD and more.)

• Scott Campbell is a busy busy man. You can see his work in three different shows. Here. Here. And here.

• And finally, i saw that the Swedish anthology we're doing sub-distro for (From the Shadow of Northern Lights) hit stands yesterday. Great stuff. Check it out!

• Veeps writer Bill Kelter scores a piece on the front page of Politico! Sweet!

Then, on the same day he was interviewed on Portland's Progressive Talk Radio, KPOJ with Carl Wolfson.

Shooting starts next week on the documentary being made about Bill and Veeps illustrator Wayne Shellabarger, with (YIKES!) me at the helm. Oh, and speaking of which, Bill's co-worker Bill Lovejoy sent me this image recently. What the fu?@!!!

• Tom Spurgeon's 50-Plus thoughts about ComiCon 2008.

• I scored some great shit at San Diego this year, rabid fanboy that i am. Krazy & Ignatz 1935-1944 by Chris Ware, from Fantagraphics. I couldn't find a link to this on their site, nor an image for it, but this is the second mammoth volume of reprints and it's insanely gorgeous. Even more so, however, is the French edition collecting the entirely of the classic crime series Torpedo by Abuli, Bernet and Toth. My French isn't particularly great, but holy crap this is one of the most impressive all-in-one collections i've ever held in my sweaty little paws. Richard Starkings gave me the terrific, lush Art of Ladronn hardcover. His editorial is an inspirational account of how he met Ladronn working together on the (still fun) Cable comic years ago, and ended up giving him free reign to do comics as he sees fit, in his own time. Yes, the timetable has been glacially slow, but as i was then compelled to buy the first two hardcover Hipflask collections of three, the results are sooooooooo worth the wait. Dizzyingly beautiful. I got so much more, which i'll mention soon, but for this update, i also scored two more awesome hardcover art books: Michael Golden's Heroes & Villians, published by Little Eva Ink, and Retroactive: Darwyn Cooke 1998 - 2008, published by BrandStudio Press. Two of my favorite cartoonist. Two bitchin' books. (Now we just need an Art Adams hardcover to round out the list.)

Oh yeah, and one of the inserts in the Con Bags was this funny-as-hell Watchmen parody, courtesy of Mad Magazine.

• Jed McGowen's lush strip Ritual of the Savage is now up on Top Shelf 2.0. And it rocks! Meanwhile, here's a piece of fan art Jed received by Teemu Matinlauri. This too shall rock.

• Indigo Kelleigh, best known as the founder of the Stumptown Comics Fest here in Portland, is also a great cartoonist. He's just launched a new strip called Ms. Ellie Connelly. He rocked my world years ago with his air-tight mini-series Chutney Point, and so far this looks as good or better. Good to see you back, Indy!

• My longtime friend Dave Vlasaty (we met on the crew team back at University of Oregon back in the day), just road tripped to the tip of Baja with his kick-ass sons Aiden and Angus... oh, and Owly!!!

• Last but not least, Calling All Aspiring Animators!... Top Shelf is looking for cheap talent who will work for lots and lost of free comics to help us build some animated trailers for various projects. Must already dig Top Shelf (otherwise, i mean.. what's the point, right?) and be serious and committed. There's no paycheck involved, but really we do take care of our family.

Contact me at brett@topshelfcomix.com if interested. Please though, no attachments. Links to url portfolios ideal.

• This showed up in my po box a while back, and i just got around to reading it... what a stunner. Clearly a loving Frankenstein homage with nods to comics of old and stuff like Warren's Monster's of Filmland, this oversized comic is a real formal masterpiece. The art is multi-media collage pasted up on newspapers. The look feels gritty and intense, and the narrative is a wild pop-culture tour de force. Great stuff.

• Mr. Max Estes has some cool new stuff available at Made by Max.

• Heads-up from Vancouver cartoonist, and Top Shelf 2.0 contributor Don King, who tipped me off to a terrific sounding show in Vancouver, B.C.

• Had this terrific submission-envelope art hanging in my workshop for forever... figured i show it to the world.

• I've been dipping into my enormous to-read pile a little lately. Standouts include:

Eschew #1 (mini-comic), by Robert Sergel. Apparently this guy has been making comics for a long long time, yet i'd never heard of him until he sent me this mini. And it's really solid. Using a "clear-line" style, the work i've read is of the shorter, poetic style, more than long narratives. In any case, one could spend days reading the plethora of comics he has on his website. So get to it, people!

I lifted this comic from his website.

Nerd Burglar (comic), Free Comic Book Day book by Tugboat Press, Teenage Dinosaur, and Sparkplug Comics. A potpourri of comics fun, this puppy feature's an awesome twisted story by legendary punk cartoonist Bobby Madness and an appearance by the always-good-to-see and sadly underrated ink stud Chris Cilla. What really rocked me though, was a strip called "Fifteen Variations on The First Day We Met," by Sarah Oleksyk, which plays with formalism to wonderful effect. Too hard to describe, i recommend you just order this book. It costs one penny, plus postage, cheap-wads!!

• From comics cognoscenti Craig Yoe:
"Yo, Comix Fan!

"I'm joining the San Diego Zoo, i.e. the San Diego ComicCon. I'll be signing my new books Clean Cartoonists' Dirty Drawings and Comic Arf, and I'll be on some panels."

Last Gasp
July 24th, 1:30-2:30
Clean Cartoonists' Dirty Drawings book signing at Last Gasp booth 1616.

Fantagraphics
July 24th, 6:00-7:00
Comic Arf book signing at Fantagraphics booth 1716

Drawing Demo: Spotlight on Dean Yeagle
July 25, 3:30-4:30
Room 30CDE
I will be the panel moderator.

Fantagraphics
July 25th, 5:00-6:00
Comic Arf book signing at Fantagraphics booth 1716

Fantagraphics
July 26th, 11:00-12:00
Comic Arf book signing at Fantagraphics booth 1716

Last Gasp
July 26th, 1:30-2:30
Clean Cartoonists' Dirty Drawings book signing at Last Gasp booth 1616.

The Launch of Abrams ComicArts
July 26th, 3:00-4:00
Craig's book will be announced!

• And once again, because i can... here's Cfunk doing his Happy Dance.

Hey LEAGUE fans!

The new issue of Entertainment Weekly just hit the stands. It looks like THIS:

And inside is the FIRST-EVER look at THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN (VOL. III): CENTURY (published by Top Shelf in 2009)!

Here's a tiny version -- for a better look, you gotta buy the mag!

It's been years since i last updated here. My bad. Catching up.

• First, Slovenian-produced anthology Stripburger #47 arrived in my po box last week, and it's a beauty. While many of the essays are in the native language, the comics themselves are all in English, and they are ample. The whole affair kicks off with a stunning wraparoud cover and lead feature and interview with French cartoonist Matthias Lehmann. Other standouts include Filipe Abranches (Portugal), Marcelo D'Salete (Brazil), Bendik Kaltenborn (Norway)Thomas Vielle (France), Mawil (Germany), and Gunnar Lundkvist (Sweden).

One of their best issues in a long while, this issue is really worth tracking down. Ostensibly Top Shelf is the North American distributor, but i just looked, and i don't see anything on our site. I'll look into this and get back.

• Merry Mike Dawson (Freddie and Me) sent me a link to a terrific new strip, title "Max, Get Out of My Room!" What happens when super-powered tween brothers get in a fight? Read on...

• Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko. Wow wow wow wow!!!! Author Blake Bell actually pitched this book to Top Shelf several years ago, and i just couldn't get Chris (Staros) interested in backing me in my desire to pick it up. I was bummed, but that is the nature of our partnership, so i let it go. Having ravenously devoured this book, and reading the author's notes on the evolution of it's development, this is probably a good thing. The content and narrative thrust changed radically. Moreover, the design by Fantagraphics designer Adam Grano is astonishing.

It's a wonderful companion volume to the recent Kirby! coffee-table art book. Except that where that book mostly regurgitated information about Kirby and his work that has been around for years, the wealth of information regarding Ditko's background and the analysis of his life's work, in Bell's book, make for an engaging and riveting read, covering ground virtually unknown heretofore. I want to pull it off the shelf and start reading it over again already.

I will state right now, that this book will easily end the calendar year 2008 in my Top Five books of the year, if not Number One. Very highly recommended.

• How cool is this cover art for our (as yet unannounced) one-shot by Top Shelf 2.0 contributor Brecht Evens. The book is titled Night Animals. More on this soon.

• Totally not comics, but incredibly cool. I was tipped off to an amazing video of (from the website) "world-renowned kayakers following the banks of Africa's White Nile River with one mission: to discover uncharted whitewater."

A spine-tingling short film, made by the writer of the article Aaron Retting, can be linked to at Flux magazine. (A student magazine of my alma mater, University of Oregon.)

Ink-stud extraordinaire Steve Lafler writes:

"Just a heads up -- my new book TRANNY: Boys Will Be Girls is in the current Diamond Previews catalog on Page 330 (listed with Sparkplug Comic books). Now is the time to pester your favorite comics retailer to order the book!"

• Things i scored at MoCCA and am just now getting around to dive into:

Love/Pain by the artist named Ephameron, published by Bries. Not comics, but rather, wonderful and beautiful drawings, photos, portraits and what have you, in a terrific hardcover package. Sublime. The artist was actually working the Bries table (in place of our old pal Ria Schulpen, who wasn't there for the first time in many years), so i got a wonderful drawing inside as well.

- Skyscrapers of the Midwest, collected hardcover, by Josh Cotter. Published by AdHouse.

Awesome. I have to admit that black humor in comics is pretty hit or miss for me. Some of the more misanthropic ones are just plain juvenile or creepy as fuck. On the other hand, in the hands of some — like Ivan Brunetti — self-loathing has never been more raging with humanity. Enlightenment through hitting rock bottom and rolling in the muck.

Josh Cotter is something different altogether. Dark as it gets, but the humor is wacky and dare i say, joyous in it's affection. I'm not sure what scares me more, Josh's comics themselves, or the fact that on the surface this guy seems like a "normal" human being, when clearly this is not the case. No matter, this book rocks. Many thanks to Chris Pitzer and Josh Cotter. I owe you one, kids.

- While i was in Montreal on the way to New York, we stopped by a bitchin' store called Planète BD, which blew my mind. No other North American store has this much French Bandes Dessinee. (French comics, mostly as oversized albums, or new format graphic novels.)

Anyway, i picked up two volumes of a crime story called RG written by Pierre Dragon (who was a special agent himself, before becoming a writer) and drawn by the incredible Swiss inkstud Frederik Peeters. (Peeters is most known here for his book Blue Pills, published by Houghton Mifflin.)

GREAT looking stuff.

- And down the street (in Montreal) i picked up a gorgeous new Blutch graphic novel, C’était le BonheurC’était le Bonheur. Stunning comics. I'm reminded here of Jules Feiffer's older Village Voice strips stylistically. It's pretty depressing that no one's really made any inroads getting his material into print here in the U.S. Ah well, c'est la vie.

- Last BD i picked up was Daniel Blancou's delightful Le Roi de la Savane, a terrific athrpomorphic treat.

• Charles Hatfield and his cohort Craig at Though Balloonists give careful consideration of Eddie Campbell's Alec graphic novel, How to Be An Artist. Good reading to prepare the world for the mammoth all-in-one Top Shelf Complete Alec tome next year.

Wow! Jeremy Eaton's new "Cartoon Jumbles" are awesome!

• From the desk of Eric Reynolds:
"Rhea and I returned home late last night with a new little member of our family, after spending the weekend in the hospital. Clementine Bean Reynolds was born Saturday afternoon (June 21) at 3:15 PM in Ballard's Swedish Hospital. She weighed 7lbs, 2 oz, and is 20 inches long. Rhea and Clem are both doing great and we're overwhelmed but happier than we could have imagined. Clem has strawberry blonde hair and a prodigious appetite, and a birthday one day before her daddy's, which is likely for the best since it means she's a gemini instead of a crabby cancer like her pop."

Big congrats, kids. Now get some sleep!

• Cool video podcast at "The Stack" (at Newsarama) featuring an interview with Alex Robinson, talking about his bitchin' new book Too Cool to Be Forgotten.

• Here's a nifty little strip Noah Van Sciver did, an interview he conducted with Jeffrey Brown.

• The incredibly talented Ulana Zahajkewycz has a new blog. Yah!!!

• Finally, here's a sweet promo postcard Rob Goodin whipped up for his forthcoming Top Shelf comic book called, appropriately, The Man Who Loved Breasts.

June 14, 2008. Email from Jeff Lemire:
"Just got back from the Schuster awards ceremony, and I won Best Canadian Writer/Artist! It was the nights "big" end of the night award and I was up against Darwyn Cooke, Brian Lee O'Malley and Julie Doucet! It is a gorgeous award, and I'll likely get some print in the local newspapers on Monday. Anyways, I thanked all of you and gave my props to Top Shelf...so way to go team! See y'all soon."

Whoo hoo!

On Lemire's Shuster Award, good pal Gary Butler (Quill & Quire, Rue Morgue) said, "A well-deserved win for a brilliant talent." And the subject header for the same email read: The Lemire the Lemerrier. Ha! Love it! Thanks, G.!

• The new Strapazin arrived in the mail. Whoo hoo!

• Alex Robinson's new Too Cool to be Forgotten scores HIGH in New York Mag's "The Approval Matrix." In the "Brilliant/Lowbrow" category there is the cover of Too Cool!!! The text says: "Alex Robinson's endearingly uplifting graphic novel Too Cool to be Forgotten." He shoots, he scores!

• Top Shelf alum Max Estes' online comic strip My Life as a Bunny is being published in Spain! Congrats, Max!

• Big props to Top Shelfers Matt Kindt, Jeff Lemire, and Christian Slade on their 2008 HARVEY AWARD NOMINATIONS!!!

SPECIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRESENTATION
Super Spy, Matt Kindt

BEST COLORIST
Matt Kindt, Super Spy

BEST NEW TALENT
Jeff Lemire, Essex County
Christian Slade, Korgi #1: Sprouting Wings

• It's no secret i love Wizard mag, and they love us right back! The newest issue (#201) has FOUR Top Shelf plugs! Page 20 had Five Questions with Robert Venditti (for The Surrogates); Matt (Super Spy) Kindt shows up in the "Future Superstars" section on page 79; Alex Robinson's new Too Cool To Be Forgotten, on page 101, is a recommended Summer Read; and it's all good words about James Kochalka's Johnny Boo Volume 1 on page 106.

MoCCA kicked ass, like it always does, even though i came down with a cold, and it was as hot as sin in The City. After three nights in Montreal, living la Vida Loca with mon ami Patrick Jodoin, i stayed at Gregory Benton's swanky new studio loft on Flatbush in Brooklyn.

-Christine Norrie gave me three tiny little piece of printed ephemera that are just exquisite. They are garment tags, with subtle yellow, stamped text, and gorgeous illustrations by Christine printed in red ink. One each for bra, panties, and slip. The style reminds me of a classic line-art style circa 1965 fashion ads. (Or if memory serves, like the packaging that came with sew-your-own fashion patterns like my mom used to make.)

-Will Dinski continues to be a leader in the oft-ignored field of mini-comics, with two new books i was given: Errand Service, a re-packaged clever little ditty about the service-provider who does the minutiae of everyday life and so much more, as work for hire, and a super-mini held together by a metal fastener, called Shift. I'm going to keep singing this guy's praises until he becomes a household name, damnit all!!

-Lilli Carre gave me her exquisite new mini Dorado Park. Lilli is emerging into one of the next generation's brightest stars.

-Good friend Jose Villarrubia introduced me to two of his illustration students whose work literally boggles. Check this shit out!

Sam Bosma.

Kali Ciesmier. Both do amazing work, and i'll be very surprised if i don't start seeing there work all over the place soon. Kali also handed me a delightful little mini-comics titled Paige Turner and the Midnight Curiosity, which amply displays here ability to tell a sequential narrative in pictures as well.

-On the way home (flying over the majestic Rocky Mountains) i had a chance to read How to Love, the new anthology by Israeli ink-studs, Actus. I've known all of them for upwards of a decade now, and have always been a fan, and with this latest, they continue to impress. Greg McElhatton has a review posted here at Read About Comics. This is a book you can order right here from yours truly, if your local retailer can't or won't stock it.

-Sam Henderson gave me the new Magic Whistle (Number 11), also which had me laughing out loud on the flight home. Thanks, Sam!!

-Picked up Danny Hellman's new anthology Typhon. Some great stuff can be found therein, including two strips by Gregory Benton, some nice new work by the likes of Dalton Webb, Pat Moriarity, Chris Cilla, Pshaw, Grant Reynolds, and geez, so many more. All wrapped up in a sweet cover by R. Sikoryak.

-I did get more stuff from MoCCA, but i left it in the hands of Rob Venditti, to ship back to me from Atlanta... stay tuned.

• Jeremy Eaton has a link to three and a half years of his weekly editorial cartoon, A Drawn Perspective. Great stuff!

• Top Shelf 2.0 contributor Lizz Lunney has a terrific new comic out titled I Love Dinosaurs and They Love Me.

• This is not about comics. Read on ONLY if the idea of Challenging the Militarization of US Energy Policy grabs your interest. Good stuff.

Off to Montreal to visit my friend Patrick — and also to flirt with the bevy of cute French-speaking girls — on route to New York for MoCCA. Y'all won't hear from me for at least a week (not uncommon, sadly), so i wanted to throw out my picks from the current Diamond Previews. (I think for items shipping in December.) In order of appearance:
DARK HORSE

• Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein (new hardcover edition!!)
• Dean Motter's Mr. X Archives. Fun old stuff. Style over substance, but beautiful all the same. Come on... early Jaime Hernandez and Seth?
• Hellboy Library Edition vol. 2. Volume one is drop dead gorgeous. These are as good as it gets.

DC COMICS
-DC Universe Illustrated by Neal Adams. His shit still rocks.
-Teen Titans Archives vol. 4. Part of my Holy Trinity. Starfire was as big a crush as any "real" girls up to that point in my teens. And probably as available to Mr. Nerd.
-Y: the Last Man Deluxe Edition vol. 1. I loved the first few trades, and if the package is as tight as the new Starman Deluxe books, i am all over this.

MARVEL

• Criminal #6. As always.
• Marvel Masterworks: Amazing Spider-man vol. 10. I know this is sacrilegious to many, but i'm actually a bigger fan of Romita's Spidey than Ditko. (Of course, Ditko is a god, but Romita's Mary Jane... are you KIDDING me?!!!)
• Immortal Iron Fist tpb vol. 2 (The Brube, Fraction, etc.) The first volume in this series surprised me how much i enjoyed it.

BODEGA
- Dave K.'s Neverland. Almost everything Dave touches is gold. He's like the best teen drama tv show as imagined by John Porcellino.

DEVIL'S DUE
- Oh yeah!!! Jeffrey Brown's Incredible Chabge-Bots character "Balls" action figure!! I can't handle how cool this is... it actually TRANSFORMS!!

DRAWN & QUARTERLY
- Against Pain, by Ron Rege Jr. Another member of the circa mid-90s generation whose work is always worth reading.

FIRST SECOND
- Eddie Campbell's The Amazing Monsieur Leotard. Eddie makes comics. The world rejoices. 'Nuff said.

GEMSTONE
- EC Archives: Haunt of Fear vol. 1. The best reprint project going on currently, alongside Terry and the Pirates.

iDW
- Complete Dick Tracy vol. 5. Choice vintage comics. We truly are in a Golden Age of reprints.

ONI

• Local hardcover edition. Brian Wood works magic on the page. And coupled with Ryan Kelly's insanely good art on this series, i've devoured every issue to date.
• Love the Way You Love (Jamie Rich and Marc Ellerby). I've yet to read this, but i dig Jamie's stuff.
• Sharknife vol. 2: Double Z. Corey Lewis' manic fucking madness. Over the top, ADD, and high octane.

VERTICAL INC
- Tezuka's Dororo vol. 3. Tezuka, duh...

And there's more in the book section, including a collection of Frazetta comics, a collection of Will Eisner's PS Magazine, and a series of toys of the old Rankin & Bass characters classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I showed this to Carter this last December, and he flipped his wig.

• Boo Ya! Charlito and Mr. Phil are hosting an Indie Spinner Rack party this Saturday night, ladies and gents. Yahoo! Me loves me a good party, and these cats are as cool as cucumbers.

FREE DOOR PRIZES, DJ WACKY WACK, FREE LOVE & Perhaps Mr. Phil will take his shirt off!

Swing by the ISR booth to get your Raffle ticket NO CHARGE. FREE.

OFFICIAL IZZER MOCCA PARTY
Saturday June 7th
9pm START TIME....who knows how long.
BAR M-15!

• Pat Moriarity made this awesome poster for the Horror film Paper Dolls. It will be showing in Seattle for the STIFF Film Festival, Tuesday, June 10th. 8:00. Jewel Box Theater. Nice work, Pat!

• Finally, speaking of The Kid. Here are some recent snaps.

Guest blog by our man Rob Venditti, writer of the graphic novel The Surrogates:

"This past week, Chris Staros, Brett Weldele, and I were invited to visit the set of the upcoming SURROGATES movie, currently filming in Boston. It was a trip for the ages, and I left having learned a lot about what goes into the making of a big-budget film. What surprised me more than anything else was the sheer enormity of the production, which involves hundreds of cast and crewmembers, as well as multiple sets scattered around the metro area.

"I was equally surprised at how much they went out of their way to make us feel welcome. I expected us to spend the two-day visit scrambling to stay out of everyone’s way and keep our nuisance quotient at the lowest possible level, but the people we met were genuinely interested in showing us what’s in store for the film adaptation. On the first day, the location scouts took us on a tour through the various sets in downtown Worcester—it’s crazy what the set dressers are able to accomplish in a relatively short time, taking a run-down room in an abandoned building and turning it into a fully realized space. I couldn’t see for certain who the artists were, but some of the local concert posters hanging on the wall in one set smacked heavily of the Fort Thunder crowd.

"On the second day we visited the main production office in Woburn, where the production designers were bent over their drafting tables, sketching out concepts for sets and props that are yet to be built. The level of detail they’re going into is beyond reason—one of the particularly impressive props we saw was about the size of a phone booth. I stepped closer for a better look and saw a small sticker, maybe twice the size of a business card, on which were typed the user instructions, as though the prop were a real mechanism and not something created for a film set. I can’t imagine that it’ll be filmed close enough to actually read the instructions or even notice them, but they’re there anyway. That’s just one example of how carefully the designers are thinking this thing through.

"We spent a good amount of time watching the actual filming as well. We saw Bruce Willis do dialogue. We saw him do action. Even better, we saw him do the quiet moments where it’s just him and the camera as he pieces together the film’s mystery. Everything we saw only reinforced what I’ve said from the beginning—Willis is THE guy to play Greer.

"To the slater who let me work the 'sticks,' thank you. To craft services, who kept us in cookies, pizza bagels, and bottled water, thank you. To the lunch caterers—I went in expecting chicken strips and tater tots, and you gave me shrimp scampi and shepherd’s pie—thank you. To everyone who took the time to show us around, thank you. Our visit was every bit as enjoyable and informative as a school field trip, except instead of visiting the planetarium, we, you know, saw our story getting turned into a feature film.

"The question I’ve been asked more than any other over the past year is: 'Does it feel like this is really happening?' Hollywood is always in such a state of flux that it’s hard to ever know definitively where things stand. So it never really felt real—not after seeing the screenplay, or even after hearing that Bruce Willis had been cast in the lead. But when I was on set and saw the slate, on which were the words SURROGATES and beneath that DIRECTED BY JONATHAN MOSTOW, PHOTOGRAPHED BY OLIVER WOOD, that was a different story. Now it feels real."

Robert Venditti

(And here's the cover for the upcoming sequel graphic novel, Surrogates: Flesh and Bone.)

• RELEASE PARTY FOR DAVID CHELSEA’S 24x2!

THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 2008
6-10 PM
FLOATING WORLD COMICS
David Chelsea will appear at Floating World Comics, in Portland’s historic Chinatown district, celebrating the release of his book 24x2, published by Top Shelf Productions. 24x2 collects two 24-page stories, each created over the course of a 24-hour period!

The party will also celebrate the opening of a gallery show at Floating World, featuring the art of legendary alternative cartoonists Peter Bagge, J.R. Williams, and Mats!?. The show will run through June 30th.

David Chelsea is a Portland-based cartoonist and illustrator. His graphic novels David Chelsea in Love (1992) and Welcome to the Zone (1995) have earned him a cult following. His hybrid graphic novel / textbook Perspective! For Comic Book Artists (1997) has helped cartoonists create realistic worlds for over a decade. His illustrations for the “Modern Love” column greet readers of the New York Times every week.

But perhaps his most unique achievement is his history with the 24-hour comic book — a complete 24-page comic book story, created from start to finish in 24 hours. Since his first 24-hour comic experience in 2004, Chelsea has returned again and again to this comic-book crucible, completing his stunning TENTH 24-hour comic on April 5, 2008.

Now, Top Shelf Productions presents the cream of Chelsea’s crop: two hand-picked 24-hour comics from the reigning champion of the form.

WHO: David Chelsea, Peter Bagge, J.R. Williams, Mats!?, and the public!
WHAT: Gallery show, opening reception, book release party for David Chelsea’s 24x2
wWHEN: Thursday, June 5, 6-10PM
WHERE: Floating World Comics
20 NW 5th Ave #101
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 241-0227

• I recently picked up one of the coolest books EVER. Hats off to editor Charlie Kochman at Abrams for spearheading a stunning collection of the brilliant old-school Wacky Packages stickers. Featuring an interview with art spiegelman, who worked on these waaaaay back in the day, and an afterword by contributing artist Jay Lynch, this tight little tome showcases every single Wacky Packages bubblegum card of Series 1-7 back in the early 70s.

Holy crap, this is a seriously fun blast from the past. Highly recommended!!!

• Finally, i'm leaving for Montreal in just a few days (on route to MoCCA in New York City)... i'm hoping to post a list of items i'll be seeking out from the current Diamond Previews before i leave. There is a freaking boatload of great stuff coming out this Summer!

Mike Dawson's long-awaited 300-page graphic novel Freddie and Me is finally out. (Bloomsbury.) I was witness to early stages of this book, and i can't wait to read the entire thing.

• More killer Michael Golden art.

From the press release:
Philadelphia -- In celebration of the release of the new mini-series, "Demon's Regret," it's just been announced that a limited edition exclusive print will be offered at this years Wizard World Philly. Limited to only 150 copies on linen stock, signed and numbered! What's even more exciting is that the art is by non-other than cover artist Michael Golden, who will be making his first appearance at WWP!

• Nick Parker, editor of University of Alabama's Black Warrior Review is seeking submissions for robot-themed pieces anywhere between 4 and 8 pages long. "They do not have to be a sequential narrative. That is to say, we have published, and will again publish, single frames that have a story within them. Our magazine is a 6" x 9" book, and printed space on art pages is about 5" x 8". We are looking for black and white (and gray, naturally) submissions. For this feature we are looking for one, possibly two comics to go along with our other pieces, which includes art, poetry, nonfiction and fiction.

"As far as page rates go, we are a non-profit, so our payment to contributors is based upon an honorarium we get each year. As such, it is hard to nail down a firm number but, based upon years past and our increasing revenue, I would estimate that each contributor will get between $100 and $200. So, I would loosely peg the page rate at about $25 per page, with a limit of 8 pages.

"The magazine can be checked out here. Recent art and comic contributions have come from Maya Hayuk, Howie Tsui, Josh Frankel, and Jim Woodring."

I haven't heard from Staros in a few days, and was wondering where he was. Then i got an email informing me that he was on the set of The Surrogates film today, while authors Rob Venditti and Brett Weldele were off doing their interviews for the supplemental dvd extras. I am a little green right now, i must admit.

• PRESS RELEASE:

The Portland Funbook #3 needs YOU to make an awesome drawing or an awesome song. #3 will bring more music and more art than your eyeballs and earballs can handle! Be it obvious or obscure, we need submissions from all about Portland. This time the book will be an oversized 11"×17", the record 10", the glory immeasurable. And as with #1 and #2 all profits from the sale and release party will go to charity. The 3rd Portland Funbook will be the definitive regional activity/coloring book for next thousand years. Live your kindergarden dream!

For complete submission details download this pdf from Psilo Design.

If you don't know about The Portland Funbook you can download pdfs and music here.

• Gregory Benton sent me a couple watercolors, done on holiday recently. Thanks, G.

• Jeffrey Brown. A convention sketch for Joe Keatinge (Image Comics) at Emerald City Con. (Photo by Carlos Hernandez Fisher.) Then a Bighead/Batman commission. Cool. Cool. Cool.

I'm off to the beach for the weekend. Fingers crossed for sunshine.

The world of comics lost a legendary champion today, when news broke that Rory Root died. I learned via Warren Ellis' email newsletter, who himself learned from Ed Brubaker. I'm pretty sucky at eulogies, but i can tell you that Rory was one of the coolest guys i've ever known in this biz, and his store Comic Relief has been one of the top five stores in North America for as long as i've been reading them.

Rory, i love you man and i'll miss you. Rest in peace, buddy.

Gee whiz, between Chris and myself, we've been representing Top Shelf across the country and around the world. First, in early April our ATL contingent did the FLUKE show in Athens, GA. The very next weekend Chris was pimping TSP at the mammoth New York Con. The week after that, Leigh and myself set up at Stumptown here in Portland. (Aided and abetted by new guy on the block Tim Sievert.) Chris then set sail for a comics festival in Sweden, got home, had one day off to check his 2,326 emails, then turned back around and right back across The Pond for the Bristol Con in England. At the same time, Leigh and myself were in Seattle for the Emerald City Con, along with Matt Kindt, Jeffrey Brown, and Andy Runton. Meanwhile, Chris left this morning to attend Editor's Day at SCAD (Savanna College of Art and Design).

Whew!!! Book Expo is in a week and a half (Staros will be flying solo for that one), then we'll be representing in force at MoCCA in two and a half weeks.

• So, yeah, Emerald City was great this year... big ups to Jim D. for pulling out all the stops, and making sure that the indy set wasn't entirely overshadowed by Will (STTNG) Wheaton, Apollo (BSG) Adama, three contestants from Stan Lee's So You Think You Want to be a Super-Hero?, and more big-name mainstream artists than you can shake a stick at. For the record, Will (Wesley Crusher) Wheaton is one helluva nice guy.

I scored some great loot. While i'm not a big back-issue bin flipper, i do like to check the magazine boxes and scored a great deal on three really old back issues of Comics Feature, two old issues of The Comics Journal, the very first issue of Amazing Heroes, and a sweet Wally Wood Treasury, all for a mere $20.

Fantagraphics got a big-ass pile of change from me (well, Eric did gimme a sweet discount!), since they had a plethora of amazing new books, including the new issue of The Comics Journal (Peanuts on the cover), Dash Shaw's MAMMOTH new tome Bottomless Belly Button, the revised and much better designed paperback edition of Patrick Rosenkranz's Rebel Visions: The Underground Comix Revolution, Craig Yoe's new ARF!, and an incredibly gorgeous new volume of Jules Feiffer strips called The Explainers. Good lord, these cats never take a break.

• How cool is THIS!
Small Press Spotlight on Andy Hartzell (Fox Bunny Funny) at the Cartoon Art Museum. Exhibition runs May 10 – August 10, 2008.

• Rising start Will Dinski is interviewed by Tom Spurgeon at Comics Reporter. I LOVE Will's comics. Seriously, this guy is the shit. We'll be seeing more of his work in the future. Check out his blog, baby! His recent book Beautiful, Cool, and Irreplaceable (picture below) is awesome! Buy it!

ink-stud J.R. Williams has a wild as heck, day-glo web-comic up on his Flickr site called Felyna. Good, old-fashioned comics goodness.

Here's a pic of J.R. and table-mate Jim Blanchard at Stumptown last weekend. (Lifted from said Flickr site.)

This is the piece i bought from him at the show... Metamorpho, baby!!

• Tender Loving Empire, the little boutique shop-that-could is celebrating their 1st Birthday!! And they're throwing a bash on May 11 at Berbatis, so if y'all aren't up in Seattle for the Emerald City Con, you should come out and rock the house. They also have a bitchin' new comic anthology out called Shitbeams on the Loose.

I really dig these kids at Tender Loving Empire, and their taste as a record label, screenprint shop, t-shirt maker, publisher is astounding.

• VERY lean month (of good stuff, that is) in Diamond Previews this month. The one book i'd like to point out is the new Meathaus S.O.S. anthology on page 328 of Previews. Farel Dalrymple had advance copies of this at Stumptown, and it's fucking gorgeous. Indy anthology lovers... TAKE NOTE!!

• This year the Eisner Awards are allowing On-Line Voting, and the ballots just went live. The registration process only took about a minute, and the voting another 2 or 3.

Just go to: www.eisnervote.com and follow the instructions. And go ahead and do it now, so you don't forget (though the deadline is June 13th).

And in case you're interested, we (Top Shelf!) got 3 nominations this year:

2008 Eisner Award Nominees:

• Best Graphic Album-New: Essex County, vols. 1-2: Tales from the Farm/Ghost Stories, by Jeff Lemire
• Best Graphic Album-Reprint: Super Spy, by Matt Kindt
• Best Writer/Artist: Jeff Lemire, Essex County: Tales from the Farm/Ghost Stories

• Andy Runton made this fine Owly piece promoting this coming weekend's Emerald City Con up in Seattle. The guest list this year is swell, including our own afore-mentioned Andy Runton, as well as Jeffrey Brown and Matt Kindt. Come on out and say hello.

Stumptown is come and gone once again, and continues to improve every year out. Kudos to Indigo, Cosmic Monkey, and the entire amazing force that organizes this show, which grows in stature each time out. The vibe was terrific and the venue fabulous.

Tim Sievert made it out from Minneapolis to represent at the Top Shelf table, while Liz Prince came out from Boston to promote her new Top Shelf book Delayed Replays. She had her own table and was selling some nifty new t-shirts. Hometown boy David Chelsea had his own table as well, and was pimping his hot-off-the-presses 24 x 2, which collects two of his ten 24-Comics efforts.

My old pal Garret Izumi was our neighbor (along with Scott Mills), and took these snaps. (This one at the table has Timothy on the left and me on the right.)

This one outside my favorite restaurant ever, Taqueria Nueve. Not only is the food incredible, but they make the best margarita in the cosmos. Better even than my own! (Gasp!)

The Saturday night event at Cosmic Monkey was so freaking crowded, i literally couldn't make it ten feet into the large cavernous space. Hot, sweaty, and surrounded by comics. So i grabbed Timothy, and we headed to the Candlelight Room up by PSU downtown, and we danced our asses off to my new favorite local band, The Strangetones.

These cats rock so hard i can't stand it. Rootsy, roadhouse blues, and world-class musicians. Their act is tight as hell, Suburban Slim kicks out the jams like there's no tomorrow, and if you catch them on a good night, they might have the mondo-sexy Volcano Vixens doing their GoGo grooves alongside the band.

Flush with dough from the convention floor, i picked up their last two cds and i'm happy to report that they rock just as hard. Please, if you d