Come one, Come all, to Western Mass!

So I've been super MIA recently. Sorry about that! Work has been nuts, and sometimes, you just don't really feel like drawing. That's been the story of the last two month of my life. However, I've gotten signed up for three events, so it's not like comics have been totally erased from my mind! Here's the upcoming schedule:

April 28: Pioneer Valley Zinefest, Amherst, MA
June 9:Scranton Zine Fest, Scranton, PA
July 28: DC Zinefest, Washington, DC
September 15-16: SPX ,Bethesda, MD

And PS, the Feminist Zinefest in NYC was freaking awesome. So you should come see me in Amherst. I went to college nearby, and it's a great part of the world.  I also penciled the first four pages in my new project, Culver, and Matt Smith and I will have an issue of that out by SPX. I'm really excited to see where that project goes.

Comic here there, everywhere!

Hey y'all. So, turns out I don't think I'll have time to get to the New Masada story line in the next few months. Instead, I really want to focus on getting Culver out, which I am super pumped for. Matt sent me the first 20 pages of script this past week, and I can't wait to get it going! The story's really dynamic, and will be put into a number of trade paperback sized comics and then collected in a graphic novel. I just hope the quality of the drawings match that of the script :)


Also, Magic Bullet 4 will be out next week, so keep posted if you're in the DMV! If not, shoot me an email and I'll see if I can send you a copy of the paper. I have a page in it I'm feeling good about, and here's a preview:

I also now have two shows lined up for the spring: the Feminist Zinefest in Brooklyn NY on Feb. 24. Come check it out; it is bound to be a gay old time! I'll also be at the Scranton Zinefest in PA on June 9.

2011 in review

Me at SPX

So 2011 was an awesome year in comics for me! I went to three new shows-- SPACE, Baltimore Comicon, and the DC Zinefest--and drew two new issues of Gay Kid and of Suggestion Box. I also spoke at the Radical Book Pavilion at the Baltimore Book Fest, which was a lot of fun. In the future I'm going to try and hit up more zinefests; the atmosphere is really laid back and friendly, there's a lot of alternative and queer stuff out there, and it's a different market than comic book people. I doubt I'll go to SPACE again, as it was a lot of travel for not a big show. I'm glad I went to the Bmore Comicon, but don't feel any huge need to go back; it wasn't a great place for a real small-press, indie cartoonist. I wanted to go to PIX again, but didn't have that weekend free. 2012, though, I want to go back!

Goodbye!

My weekly at TheNewGay, Office Bitch, stopped right before the site shut down. I was getting a little tired of the other work coming out of the site and they were in a death-spiral anyways, so I still feel like that was the right decision to make. Working on the 30 Characters in 30 Days challenge was a great inspiration to me, and I'm going to start a weekly comic based off of the New Masada/Rebel States characters. If it seems like I've been quiet on the blog front for a while, some of that is due to the brainstorming going into this comic. I don't want to just jump into it willy-nilly, and I've never done any fiction writing before, so it may be that I'm being especially cautious about it. Who knows. But stay tuned; that comic should be up and running come February!

Chloe, a character from the 30 days challenge, and the upcoming New Masada storyline

Also, in February, I'll have an entry in the next issue of Magic Bullet (wow, check out this super out of date site!), the free comic newspaper put out by the DC Conspiracy. I've never done anything with them before, and am looking forward to this opportunity to get my work out there!

So, that about does it. It was a super year, and I hope 2012 is even better! Does anyone have any advice for shows I should hit up?

30 Character Challenge: Day 28, 29 and 30

Name: Antoine Omar
Age: 19
Height: 6'1
Weight: 165 lbs
Location: Paris
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown

Bio: Antoine's family moved to Paris from Algeria when he was four years old. He never quite fit in as a child, but when the underground house genre called Tecktonic hit the clubs, Antoine broke out of his shell and busted some serious moves. He is now a famous club promoter from Miami to Ibiza, but still calls Paris home and lives with his parents. Thankfully, he was able to buy an upgrade from their one-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of town and get a four-bedroom condo overlooking Notre Dame cathedral.

Name: Sasha Montegna
Title: Sargent in the NMPD (New Masada Police Department)
Age: 26
Height: 5'10
Weight: 160 lbs
Location: New Masada
Hair: Blond
Eyes: Blue

Bio: Sasha was recruited to the New Masada police force straight out of high school. She has always been a very patriotic person and is honored to serve her country in this capacity. After the Uprising of 2013, she was moved out of the Capitol, Canaan, to Bethsade, the town where the insurrection began. Her dedication to the Administration and ruthless enforcement of it's laws make her a prime target of the Rebel States.

Name: Tanya Grandstaff
Title: one of the leaders of the Uprising of 2013
Age: 49 at time of death
Height: 5'6
Weight: 145 lbs
Location: was in New Masada
Hair: Dark brown
Eyes: Blue

Bio: Tanya is the mother to Chloe, the Assassin, and Xavier, Garrison of New Masada. She was one of the leaders of the Uprising of 2013, leading the rebels in many battles with the Administration. One day when she came home, her husband was waiting for her. He was with two other Garrisons, who escorted her out of the house and into the awaiting police van. She was brought to the Defense Building, where she had a hasty show trial and was executed. Her battle, and that of the other rebels, lives on. They are banding back together and growing a grassroots movement called the Rebel States. Tanya would be very proud of her daughter Chloe, who has taken up the flag of the Rebel States and is working to make her mother's dream a reality.

*          *          *

Oh my God, can you believe it? We're at the end! The final curtain, the last hurrah! I've had a lot of fun working on these characters. I would love to work on a storyline for some of them, especially the ones from New Masada. This has been a great creative experience and a really worthwhile venture. Thanks for reading these posts!

30 Character Challenge: Day 26 and 27

Name: Distractinator
Age: Created sometime in the past 15 years
Height: 6'8
Weight: 320 lbs
Location: Your house, your office, your cell phone, wherever
Hair: N/A
Eyes: Pink and Blue

Bio: The Distractination sneaks up on you when you least expect it, and also when you expect it. Trying to check your email? BOOM he's there, showing you videos of otters holding hands. Reading the news? BAM why not watch a cat on a roomba? Trying to do a mail merge? WOWZA try again after 15 minutes spent watching Rihanna music videos. The only machine that can vanquish the Distractinator is WorkEthicasaurus, or a power outage.

Name: Super Pig

Age: 12
Height: 6'1 standing upright
Weight: 520 lbs
Location: USA
Hair: Red to  dusty pink
Eyes: Grey

Bio: Super Pig used to not be that super. An ordinary farm hog, Super Pig was treated with a chemically tainted growth hormone that contained traces of human DNA. He is now a barnyard superhero, fending off evil farmers with the stick they once used to herd him around.

Pigs are my favorite animal, so I had to give them some love in this challenge.

30 Character Challenge: Day 24 and 25

Name: Luis Garcia
Title: Lt. Commander of Galileo
Age: 57
Height: 5'10
Weight: 180 lbs
Location: Galileo, floating city in the Colombo Gap in the rings of Saturn
Hair: Graying brown
Eyes: Brown

Bio: Luis is the right-hand man to Linda DeKamp, Commander of Galileo. He is a great asset to the Administration, making sure that all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed. He grew up in the Asteroid Belt, and always wanted to live on one of the gas giants (no one was there yet when he was a child). He lived in Galileo for 10 years before becoming the Lt. Commander, giving him a lot of great practical knowledge of the floating city.

Name: Alpero Lex
Title: Sgt. at Galileo, Operations Division
Age: 87
Height: 7'9
Weight: 280 lbs
Location: Galileo, floating city in the Colombo Gap in the rings of Saturn
Hair: N/A
Eyes: Black

Bio: Don't let the age fool you; Alpero grew up on Mars with Linda. Martians have a much longer infancy that humans, in which they physically mature completely, before maturing psychologically. When Linda applied for a position on Galileo, Alpero did so too, just to see what happened. They ended up getting a  position as a Sargent in the Ops Division, which is just a fancy name for a handyman. Alpero loves their job, though, and is enjoying their time on Galileo (martians have always been big partiers).

30 Character Challenge: Day 22 and 23

Name: Linda DeKamp
Title: Commander of the floating city Galileo around Saturn
Age: 35
Height: 6'2
Weight: 170 lbs
Location: Colombo Gap in the rings of Saturn
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue

Bio: Linda DeKamp has been groomed for this position since she was a child. Raised on the colony on Mars, she excelled in math, physics, astro-geology and leadership skills. When the floating city orbiting Saturn, named Galileo, started operation in 2115, Linda's resume and application were on the top of the pile. Her friends tried to damper her excitement; no woman had ever been Commander of a station in the Solar Union. She became the first, and is now running the most productive floating city  in the Gas Giant region.

Name: Piers Gaveston
Position:
Age: 27
Height: 6'1
Weight: 200 lbs, 245 lbs with full armor
Location: England
Hair: Ginger
Eyes: Hazel

Bio: Piers is a fierce fighter in the English military in the early 1300s. He has seen his fair share of war, and has gained notoriety amongst his fellow infantrymen as a man without morals in the battlefield.

But mostly, I just wanted to draw someone in armor.