Post Stump // Pre Tea Calf 2012

This past weekend was Stumptown 2012. The last Stump show we attended was in 2010 and we had a total blast, so it was very disappointing that I was unable to be in attendance this time around (had to work the Art in Bloom event at the MIA). With that said, Vincent Stall (King Mini) had us covered as he was holding down the 2DC tent at said show. In addition to the usual 2DC wares, he was carrying some killer King Mini swag which included this short mini which continues his new stylistic approach to narratives (see & buy THINGS YOU CARRY!). Gorgeous, brooding work.

For everyone who stopped by our table and chatted up Vincent, our thanks! Double that for 2DC and Kini Mini purchasers!! A big and obvious thank you to Vincent as well!!

Stepping out of hump-day (well, I guess technically it is Thursday now) and into the future, Little Heart will be making it's big debut at TCAF this Saturday & Sunday! Woo! To help direct that laser pointer that is your wallet onto that book, I have been asked to be a part of a couple panels. 

The first one, taking place at the Pilot Tavern on Saturday at 3:15-4:15pm titled New, Exciting, and Queer will be moderated by Jose Villarrubia (this guy is my comics coloring hero!). Panelists include Maurice Vellekoop, Emily Carroll, Lucy Knisley, Ed Choy, and myself (raighne here!). 

The other panel I will be participating in is called Crowdfunding a Project. It will take place on Sunday on the first floor of the library itself from 1:15pm-2:45pm. Subject matter is pretty straightforward enough I imagine. Fellow panelists include Becky Dreistadt, Frank Gibson, Scott Campbell, Yuko Ota, and Evan Dahm. George Rohac is the moderator for this guy. I'm pretty pumped for these panels and I hope you can make it to both of 'em!

Tomorrow morning we will be getting a closer look at the books as we are (as usual) playing this all last minute like. Many-many heart attacks happening inside my 12 year old frame, believe you me!!

At our table (#137) we will have Ed Choy & Jeremy Sorese, both of whom had larger and longer narratives in Little Heart (and who are both über-talented and awesome). Each of them will be debuting a new book at the show as well (Araby and Curveball, respectively) . Obviously Justin and I will be at our table too. 

Elsewhere on that awesome little island of tables that we are at you can find our friends at La Mano/Spit and a Half sharing a table housing Zak Sally, John Porcellino, and the one and only Noah Van Sciver; Sparkplug Comic Books/i will destroy you will be represented by our pal Tom Neely along with Emily Nilsson; lastly, Dan Nadel from PictureBox will also be on the island -- tons of awesome all around!!!

Please stop by and buy books from our friends Anna Bongiovanni and Evan Palmer too. They are both mega-talented! You can find them on the 2nd floor. We'll have some news on a new book we are doing with Anna later in the year. Pretty excited for it.

Across from our island is kickass Koyama Press, their tables will be full of amazing artists like Maurice Vellekoop, Michael DeForge, Brian Fukushima, Dustin Harbin, Jesse Jacobs, Pat & Marek Tin Can Forest, and quite possibly many others, including kickass Annie herself!

Well, I am out of steam, gotta sleep and maybe dream. Hope to see yah at TCAF!!

Willy D and Where He Draws

Sketch by Will Dinski take from his blog

Will Dinski makes some of the best and sharpest looking mini's out there. Recently, his work space was featured on Jordan Shiveley's Where They Draw. It's a brilliant idea -- and I am excited to see the work spaces of fellow cartoonists (Tom Neely is up there too!). I am always trying to figure out how to make mine more efficient, although I am never good at keeping it up. The unfortunate part of that WTD posting deals with the fact that some ass-hat broke into Will's place, stole his computer and a bunch of his equipment. NOT COOL! There is some silver lining, but to see that you better check out WHERE THEY DRAW!

And if you happen to head over to Will's news + sketchbook blog you can catch a glimpse of his process in the form of a really neat looking gif. You should add a few of those tasty mini's of his to your holiday list for yourself or someone else -- we got 'em in the shop you know, alongside some other cool books.

Dylan Williams, Publisher at Sparkplug Passes Away

I heard the news last night and I felt like I left my body. Going to sleep early and feeling alone, even with my wife sharing the bed. This morning it hit me pretty hard. I never knew Dylan as well I would have liked -- I would see him with Tom Neely at shows, have dinner with him on a few occasions, and we’d exchange emails from time to time. But I only had this rapport with him for little more than a year or two.

I’d try to inquire as to whether he would distro some of our books, chat him up about also being a vegan, and generally come off often as a tongue-tied pest. If he found any of my blathering and blatant hero-worship the least bit obnoxious, he didn’t show it. Instead, he would tolerate my silly behavior, took me up on attending MIX, answered my questions on running a tiny comics operation, etc. In short, he was a patient, modest person who I perceived as my late 20’s role model.

Just being around Dylan put me in mind of having or being an older brother (I am the oldest amongst my siblings so I can recall being on the other end -- in addition, my younger brother’s name is in fact Dillon). Anyways, as you can imagine, the usual awkwardness and fumbling that arises from these sort of scenarios. This was my relationship with Dylan and he was fine with my interactions very much coming off like a foal’s first steps.



Dylan was also aware of this effect he had on people -- we talked a bit about it at one point and he wasn’t always sure if people were genuinely trying to befriend him or merely trying to schmooze / network with him. He may have even been politely nudging me with this. In any case, Dylan was a true, ethical, hard working dude. He dared to publish comics no else had much interest in and to continue putting out many of them in the staple-bound format as comic books. It was no mistake that Sparkplug Comic Books had ‘comic books’ in the name.

Sparkplug was and is my favorite comics publisher and Dylan is the reason for that. I am deeply indebted to him for his openness, his example, for personally introducing me to awesome cartoonists like Noah Van Sciver, and just for being an honest and decent human being. He is sorely missed.

My heart goes out to Emily, the rest of his family & friends, and the comics community at large. We lost a great hero today.