7.6.2008 @ 1:38 pm - Reviewed by Comic Fencing!

Looks like the folks at Comic Fencing got ahold of PS this week with mixed results (2.5-5 stars, depending on the reviewer). I have to admit, I do find some of their critique to be pretty accurate. I’m way more aware of my shortcomings than you might expect, especially in the writing department. I guess I’m an artist first and writer second. I just try my best, and hope that it works out in the end.

My only real objection is to the claim that the Chicago references are too picture perfect to be inaccurate. Maybe there is a general attitude that Chi-town is much dirtier than it actually is. Perhaps I need to post the 1000+ archive of photos I took while living in the city for over ten years to help correct this. Oh, well. That’s a pretty minor quibble, though. The same reviewer gave the comic 5 stars, so I can’t really complain.

Thanks for the reviews, folks!

7.2.2008 @ 7:13 am - Wizard, MoCCA, and ACEN: belated con reports

My goodness, have the last couple of months been busy. It all started back in May with my trip back to Chicago for ACEN. It turned out to be my best show to date, and was a fantastic homecoming after the big move. I actually stayed in town for a whole week, and got plenty of chances to hang out with friends and take some much-needed final photos in order to finish out Part Three.

Then, three weeks later it was off to NYC for MoCCA, where I shared a table with my new friends from the Boston Comics Roundtable, who were premiering the anthology, INBOUND. The new book looks great, and I’m looking forward to maybe contributing to a later issue. My Chicago buddy Spike also came out and ended up smoking us all on sales, which was awesome. I have to admit, despite my undying love for Chicago, NYC is growing me. It’s a fun town, though I think I’d prefer to visit often rather than live there. I’m liking Boston quite well enough. Besides, it’s only a 4 hour, $3 bus ride away (Chinatown bus, oh yeah!), so it’s easy enough to go visit. Anyway, great fun times hanging out with all my comic friends, even if I didn’t sell that much. No problem.

Now, I just got back from Wizard World Chicago this past weekend. Once again, Chicago blew me away! I shared a table with my old friend and co-founder of ModernTales, Tim Broderick, and we ended up selling out of books! It was amazing. I came back with only 4 copies of Part Two, after nearly selling out of Part One on Saturday, and being replenished with an extra 10 copies from Brian ‘BMAN’ Babenderede finally sold out completely on Sunday. Along the way, we got to hang out with the rest of the Chicago ART NIGHT crew (Brion, Jen, Spike, Pascal), plus indy comics veterans and buddies Jane Irwin, Paul Sizer, & Carla Speed McNeil, and Miss Monster, too! I even had the pleasure of meeting newcomer Nathan Heigert, who blew us all away with an already complete 80-page, full-color graphic novel, SHADE, that’s just waiting to be published. Good luck, Nate! Hope to see more from you!

Anyway, it was a totally fantastic weekend, as were the previous two cons. Next up is San Diego. Spike and I will be sharing a table, so if you’re coming out to the Big Show, please come by and tell us “Hi!”.

5.13.2008 @ 9:04 pm - Comin’ back to Chi-town!

Well, tomorrow I fly back to the Windy City for my first trip since the move. The occasion is Anime Central, of course. It’s my first full convention of the year. (I hit the NY Comic-Con, but only as an attendee). Since Part Three isn’t complete, I obviously won’t have anything new, but hopefully I’ll at least pay for the trip.

I’ll be back for an entire week so I have plenty of time to hang out with friends, hit the con, and take a bunch of pictures while wandering around town. It seems a little odd that I have to go back to take pictures at this point, but there just wasn’t time before the move. It’s too bad I wasn’t able to finish the third book before I left, but that’s okay. I have a feeling that being away is giving me some perspective and ultimately more time to work on producing the artwork, so I guess it all works out.

Anyway, I’ll see you in Chicago!

2.20.2008 @ 12:49 am - The End of an Era…

As some of you may know, my wife Emily has been on a job hunt since last fall. Well, as of last Friday, that search is over, and she has accepted a wonderful opportunity. In Boston.

So, we’re moving east. And while this means that I’m going to have to leave my beloved Chicago, I’m genuinely excited about this. I’ve known for months now that the chances that we could stay here were pretty slim, and I’ve had plenty of time to think about what it means. There have been job prospects from Long Island to the Bay Area, but not any here at home. It had me in a funk for awhile, but since this Boston gig has materialized, I’ve been in an increasingly better mood.

I’m torn about the idea of leaving Chicago, since I’ve invested so much here, especially in my artwork. But, I’ve lived here over ten years — all of my adult life, and I’ve lived in the Midwest for twenty years. If I have to leave, this isn’t a bad time. Obviously, it’s going to mean some major changes, but I think they’ll ultimately be for the better. Moving to the East Coast gives me an opportunity to expand more solidly into a new market, and puts me closer to more publishing houses. The first six months might be a little bumpy, but I’m confident I can make it work. In the end, Chicago will always be my adopted hometown, and my love for it will never go away.

In the short term it will mean I’ll have to put the comic on hold while we take care of moving, but in the long run, it’s going to mean I’ll be able to focus on long term planning for my artwork. I also plan on getting some scripting and planning done before I start drawing again, so I’ll be able to produce the comic much more quickly once I’m back.

We’ll be moving at the end of March, and I will continue to update the comic over the next few weeks to finish out the current scene. After that I’ll need to go on hiatus for a month or two in order to get our new house in order (quite literally) before returning. I’ll keep you posted once I have that final plan together.

Thanks for all your support and patience. I promise you this will be a good thing. Just don’t expect Kate & Mike to move to Boston, okay?

2.5.2008 @ 12:15 pm - I voted, did you?

I’m proud to say that I marched down to my polling place and cast my vote for Obama. I really hope he wins the nomination. I’d like to have a little hope again.

12.19.2007 @ 11:43 am - Holy crap, they’re going to kill Fermilab.

From my friend Bill:

The budget that’s just passed the Senate is basically going to kill Fermilab:

Lab fiscal ‘disaster’ feared - U.S. cuts would hit Fermilab’s research

Federal budget so far not good for Fermilab

Fermi layoffs possible

Fermi faces funding crisis

A Budget Too Small

US Budget Spells New Troubles For Next-Gen Particle Accelerator

They’re facing closing the lab for at least two months in the new year (sending everyone home with no pay), and killing off the two project proposals that might keep the lab alive after the Tevatron shuts down in 2010.

This is a terrible day for science in this country.

12.13.2007 @ 3:46 pm - New York, New York!

Wow, we got back from our whirlwind trip to New York Anime Fest on Monday, and only now am I recovering. It was a weekend of incredible highs and frustrating lows, but overall I’m very glad I went.

First of all, traveling with Spike & Matt is always a real joy. There’s always this great mix of shop talk and geekery that does my heart good. Matt and I especially enjoy talking about tabletop gaming. It’s inspiring. We scheduled the extra day of travel so we could stop off there and take in the Mutter Museum at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, a truly wondrous place full of mutants, wax representations of diseases, specimens, and general medical horrors. It was awesome.

However, it wasn’t without its problems.

The weekend got off to a slow start. Once at the convention center we discovered that Spike wasn’t on the list for a table. After some squabbling with the organizers, we ended up both at my table, which ended up being a blessing in the end — Friday ended up being incredibly slow. I was thankful to the folks who did stop by and pick up books (thank you, kind souls!), but overall the experience was humbling. After doing so many conventions this year, this was the first time I didn’t make 3 figures on the first day. Yikes! Saturday was better, but wasn’t enough to make up for the shortfall. Sunday was no better. I had expected such a big show in the largest city in the country to be a little busier. I was wrong.

Thankfully, there were plenty of friendly faces to commiserate with. Right off the bat, we ran into Dave and Raina along with John and Marion at The Comics Bakery and Zack and Steph of LifeMeter. We also bumped into Jaime of In His Likeness , Jim Z, Josh Elder, Jon Lung, Morgan, Hightower, and new friends Juno, and Mookie. Good meals were eaten, gossip shared, industry talk had, and general hangouts enjoyed. I had a blast catching up with everyone and learned a tremendous amount, too.

On the last day we were planning to do a 12+ hour marathon back home only to discover that an ICE STORM was barreling in on us between Chicago and New York. Thankfully, some friends in Pittsburgh were able to let us stay over, so all five us caravanned back to the ‘Burgh that night, and we were able arrive home safely on Monday afternoon.

All in all, I’m very glad I went. And although the travel frustrations were exacerbated by the slow sales, the time spent with friends and colleagues more than made up for it in the end.

12.5.2007 @ 11:24 am - Off to New York!

In just a couple of hours I’ll be off on a journey east to the New York Anime Festival with my good buddies, Spike and Matt of Templar, Arizona. We’ll be meeting up with our friends Brion Foulke of Flipside and Jen Brazas of Mystic Revolution for the weekend.

I’ve been looking forward to this trip for awhile. If you’re going to NYAF, swing by Artist Alley and say ‘hi!’.