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!