OPEN MOUTH
Just a quick reminder that there is a great little resource known as...
THE MONSTER BLOG THAT WALKS LIKE A MAN!
All who know me know I love and fear the great odl Kirby monsters. Last night, as Dave Gallaher and I talked about monster goodness over food and drink, I was reminded that I had not been to the monster blog in, like, forever.
So, here now... I present...
SPORR, THE THING THAT COULD NOT DIE!
SPRAGG, THE LIVING HILL!
GOOGAM, SON OF GOOM!
DRAGOOM!
ROBOT X!
Will the world survive?! Who can stop the things... FROM BEYOND!
OPEN MOUTH
SPX, the big Small Press Expo, takes place this weekend in Bethesda.
I will not be going due to religious holidays and family obligations.
HOWEVER there will be limited copies of NINETY CANDLES available at Carla Speed McNeil's table in the Montgomery Room and The House of Twelve table in the Washington Room!
NBM will also have a limited number of BROWNSVILLE ashcans at their table with artwork - the book debuts 2nd quarter 2005!
You can also find some older work in anthologies like TRUE PORN, HOUSE OF TWELVE VER 2.0, MAULED #2 and the HERO HAPPY HOUR SUPER SPECIAL
Everyone go say hi to Tom Beland for me and ask him where my WALLY MEIERS pages are durnit! ;)
OPEN MOUTH
Spent yesterday recovering from the fast and getting a little work done. Jogged/walked a total of 5 miles and then wrote half of the outline for the WFH project. Took the girl out last night for dinner and margaritas at Senor Swanky and just had a relaxin' old time.
And then came the cold.
Sitting here at work amid designs, printing proofs, fighting off a 2.1 Mach sized Nightmarecold and all I want is to mainline Nyquil.
I've got a meet and drink with Dave Gallaher tonight to talk about our new collaboration, CITIZEN MONSTERS, and odds are I'm going to be sipping OJ instead of pounding Bass. Plus, I have to finish that outline and get it to the editor with immediate authority and gusto!
I really wish I could just curl up with a copy of THE DARK TOWER and pass out at 9:30. But hey - these are the lives we lead, right?
I realized that with the fins I make from the WFH gig, I might be able to pay off a chunk of VISA change, put down some bank and afford a fancy new electronicplaytoy. I need a laptop, and maybe this along with a bit of pool from BROWNSVILLE will swing that. I'd like an iBook - Jay and Bodie both have Powerbooks and they seem to be grand... but part of me is into haveing that unit squatting on my desk like a modern godlike buddha with peripherals... so I'm thinking, I'm thinking... an eMac?
This from Robert Scott of ComicKaze:
"Just to let you know, I just had a guy come in with his mom (in her 50's) who read comics as a kid and definitely thought all comics were still Archie or Superman. I showed her a few like Persepolis and In the Shadow of No Towers but the only one she took and read through was Ninety Candles. She didn't buy it but she actually read most if not all of it while waiting for Sonny to finish shopping and commented on how different it was than she expected."
Take THAT, Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonists!
I'm out like Fierstein.
OPEN MOUTH
And so the Day of Atonement ends, with much food down the gullets of many Jews - and then right off to the bars and parties.
Except for Mama Kleid's lil boy who has work, work, work.
Getting set to sit down and map out the outline/chapter breaks for the new WFH graphic novel and It'd be cool to finish THE BIG KAHN tonight, as well. I am forgoing the company of my pals and confidants to actually get a little work done this High Holiday season, doncha know.
Got some disturbing news from home an hour ago. Apparently some woman in my parents' synagogue sent out an anonymous letter to the congregation list slandering my mom, calling her a gossip and the like. Yeah, that's the way to get into G-d's good graces around the Day of Judgment. I mean, come on. That's sort of petty. My mom is taking it well - she says if the person didn't have the guts to sign her name, she's not going to get broken up about it.
My mom would do great on an internet message board.
Nothin' much else to report. Workin' comics, drinkin' some Rogue Bad Guy Ale out of my stein.
I think AMERICAN SPLENDOR is On Demand. So much for work.
OPEN MOUTH
So apparently I am the guy at all the Jigsaw events.
And hey, I'm fine with that.
The thing I like about stores like Jigsaw, Isotope, Green Brain, etc is the fact that they engender community. Sure, you can go to your LCS and buy your comics and get out... but knowing your retailer... talking comics, having a drink and getting to hobnob with them and other like minded folks is invaluable - it creates COMMUNITY. The neighborhood bar where everyone knows your name ...but with comics.
Last night I went to Josh Neufeld's release party for A FEW PERFECT HOURS, his Xeric winning graphic novel. It was a very different event than mine, and the telling point was that they had to go and replenish the white wine halfway through.
I don't think there was a single glass of wine served at the NINETY CANDLES party. We were a beer/liquor crowd.
In any event, it was great to hang out with pals like Chris Lamb, Mo McTigue, Jason Brightman, Heidi MacDonald, Dino, Nick Bertozzi, Mike Fiffe, Patrick Reid and, of course, BenJones. Picked up my 90C artwork and took quiet pleasure in watching someone I don't know spend 20 minutes flipping through a copy of the book as I stood mere feet away. McTigue helped Lamb and I coin the meme "I'm a writer (or insert another job here)... and I make toys" right before Dean felt the need to introduce me to the barely legal contingent of girls giggling with lust over BenJones' fedora.
Notable guests that I recognized but am too much of a wuss to introduce myself to: Kyle Baker, Bob Fingerman. Notable guest that I had no problem saying hello to: Mr. Yuengling.
Other high points of the night: Got to talk to Maureen about my VAMPIRELLA pitches and I should be getting some notes shortly on the story that might be developed. Also got to run an idea by Heidi and I'll have to start on that next week. I also found myself once again sitting on the Jigsaw curb, signing/sketching a copy of 90C for Jason...for which I took a little shit.
Good fun, though. I like me some Jigsaw.
I don't care who knows.
INSERT FOOT
Now this is just plain creepy.
"The doll has his own 1,000 sq ft playroom at the couple's home, a red doll-sized Chevrolet Corvette car, a pet dog, a full wardrobe and a £2,000 savings fund for when he goes to college.
Joe and Pat love him so much they prefer him to their real child, an adult daughter named Vicky, says The Sun."
That's gotta be a daughter with real, genuine issues.
I wonder how the doll will be treated at college. Sorority Barbie, anyone?
OPEN MOUTH
Went ahead and set up a LiveJournal here and will be cross-posting to both blogs (when I blog, that is).
If you have a livejournal and want to add me as a friend (or vice versa) let me know at the monkeycommentbutton.
Viva Los Electronic Diary!
OPEN MOUTH
Okay, so as called by Ed Cunard here, I have learned a valuable lesson.
"A few people provided well-reasoned points (some more harshly than others) that explained their position on the book, prompting Kleid to respond to a few threads. However, in a few cases, it got a little petty, specifically when Kleid writes “I'll just sit here and console myself with the three work for hire graphic novels I'm writing for ibooks and NBM,” followed by a smiley face. Now, I like Kleid, and I like his work, but even in the cases where I might be predisposed to side with a creator, I am still extremely turned off by his or her actions."
Sometimes you have to let criticism be criticism and take the good with the bad. I know not everyone likes everything... and that's fine. But, yeah... that was pretty petty of me.Apologies to all involved. My momma didn't raise me that way.
However, I do have to say it irritates me when people who dont like books - for valid reasons or not, hey - everyone's entitled to their opinions - feel the need to tell other people who MIGHT like the book to go ahead and avoid buying it.
But, yeah. I got a bit crazy there. Thanks, Ed.
Sometimes you gotta get beat down to rise back up.
OPEN MOUTH
Courtesy of McCubbin:
"Posted on Thursday, August 5, 2004. From a prayer distributed in January 2004 by Hasidic Jews at a demonstration in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Between 1990 and 2000 the median monthly rent in the area increased by 67 percent, more than anywhere else in New York City. Williamsburg is reputed to be home to the highest density of artists in the world. Translated from the Hebrew by Steven I. Weiss. Originally from Harper's Magazine, March 2004. "
Sigh.
Way to alienate everyone, my landsmen.
OPEN MOUTH
1230 Am on Saturday night, and behold - i've finally stopped working.
Been up since 7, off to the day job where it was non-stop work and then back here at 7 to jog 3 miles, then get back here and fight with the Apple support techs trying to figure out why my Mac is moving so slow... then I drew a page of AFTERLIFE while squeezing in a bit of dinner and now I just wrote 5 more pages of THE BIG KAHN.
What. A. Day.
Cee-razy.
Oh, and I'm sending out retailer thank you packets tomorrow.
So, this is why blogging has been so spotty. Sorry about that.
I plan on starting a livejournal account this week and will crosspost to both blogs, so this way there will be two accounts of me blathering about nothing from my headsoup. Woo!
This week is the big ol' A FEW PERFECT HOURS release down at Jigsaw - Thursday nght, suckas - see you there?
Also, there's a new interview with me up at comicreaders.com:
it's pretty demented.
Updated the website with reviews and interviews... NINETY CANDLES has been out a week and I'm getting some good feedback so far... retailer and creators love the book - fans seem sorta mixed on it. I'm happy with it. STAR code is coming shortly and reorders are starting to come in.
On to BROWNSVILLE.
Sadly, both Jake and I have to bow out of SPX this year - he for financial reasons, me for religious. He's plugging away at the art and I plan on setting up the graphic design of the book next week. It's all comin' together, kids.
Tomorrow night I sit and talk new project with Dave Gallaher. We drink and shout. We fuck shit up.
Can we tell Neil is overtired?
Can we say overtired, kids?
'Course we can.
Good night, Gracie.
OPEN MOUTH
"This book is a good example of what indie-haters think indie comics are."
- poster, Comic Book Resources Forums
OPEN MOUTH
NINETY CANDLES, my Xeric-winning graphic novella, shipped to stores this past week and it's already being inundated with great reviews!
For instance, not many books get the honor of snagging 10/10 gradings from both Randy Lander and Don MacPherson at The Fourth Rail!
Swing here for Don's review.
And here for Randy's, in which he names NINETY CANDLES the Best of The Week!:
NINETY CANDLES, a 48 page graphic novella published with the help of the Xeric Foundation, is in stores now and available through Diamond (JUL04 3096)
More information, reviews and samples are available at the Rant Comics website.
OPEN MOUTH
For those of you who are keeping your week light, I'd like to suggest a book on this week's list that might have escaped your notice.
This week, NINETY CANDLES, my first graphic novella produced with help from the Xeric Foundation ships to stores.
UPDATED: Just got off the horn with my Diamond rep and apparently, NINETY CANDLES ships tomorrow, September 15th to stores serviced by the Plattsburgh and Memphis Centers. For some odd reason, even though the boxes for the Los Angeles Distribution Center were shipped the same way at the same time, they have yet to arrive. I heartily apologize to the stores serviced by the LA Center. I am in the middle of tracking the boxes and will keep you all aware once I find out what's what.
NINETY CANDLES, a 48 page graphic novella funded by a grant from the Xeric Foundation, is a completely improvisational comic book - no script, no net. Each panel of NINETY CANDLES represents a consecutive year in the life of its protagonist, Kevin Hall. The "spaces" between panels morph into "spaces" between years and as such the reader experiences our intrepid cartoonist's life, the decisions that shape his existence from birth to death.
REVIEWS:
Comic Book Galaxy
iComics
Randomville
Comic Book Resources
I appreciate you giving the book a chance. I think it might just be the best 6 bucks you spend this week.
OPEN MOUTH
Up from underwater yet it took me 3 hours to get to work due to flooding.
Sheesh, what a morning.
Anyway, things have been muy busy lately - was home this weekend for Labor Day to see the fam and do a book signing at Green Brain. The signing was nice, if a bit slow. I got to chill with Dan and Katie Merrit, Tim Lehnerer and assorted comics fans. Moved a few books, picked up a few new readers and got copies of some books I'd been having trouble finding.
The weekend was nice - took a little drive around the city with my brothers and nephew to check out changes down Stadium Way and around the old alma mater. Detroit, in my opinion, will have a downtown to be reckoned with by the time the Super Bowl hits town in a year. Pretty big doin's. Relaxing all in all - dinner in Canada, Faygo Rock N' Rye soda and I'm a happy man.
Now it's back to work, though.
Shipped 90C to Diamond as of last week and I'm sending them an invoice now, so I'll ge getting some much needed do-re-mi in a few weeks. Having some apartment troubles, so it'd be good to have that dough for security purposes if we can't fill our open room.
The tough news is that the BEAR SUITS team was informed that only two of our five pages made the EVEN MORE FUND book due to space and ah, content issues. No worries - I'm sending pitch packets to SLG this week and hopefully we'll be able to get the full thing in it's own series.
On the up side, though, found an artist for BIT CITY. Happy to report that Harry Roland, one of the guys who beautifully illustrated my 9-11 story, will be tackling the 128 page sci-fi cop thriller. Harry and I have been wanting to work together for a while now, and I'm glad it's going to be on this - the story is really suited for his style. I can't wait to see what he does with it.
Suppose I have to finish the script first, though.
Speaking of finishing scripts, I'm still stuck in the last Act of THE BIG KAHN. Going back and rewriting pivotal scenes and trying to tie it all together under a page restriction...tough, tough. I shouold do it, though. I'm a hooligan.
Aside from those deadlines I'm playing with the third issue of WALLY MEIERS, finishing up an interview for a new British magazine, writing a guest column for Scryptic Studios, writing queries to agents and reps, trying to update my site and slowly but surely, getting back to drawing. I haven't been able to finish the second page of AFTERLIFE - every time I sit to sketch, someone calls!
Let's not discuss the fact that I'm never going to finish COFFIN if people don't let me write, dammit.
But I'm getting back in the game, which is good.
I really should finalize the switch to LiveJournal, too.
Ah, shoulda, woulda, couldas.
Hey, look - it's rainin' again.