Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Convention Adventures, April 2010

Greetings, internet people.

See the announcements about conventions in the sidebar? I'd like to say a few more words about those conventions, because--as the write-up below of my visit to Wes Molebash's exhibition will attest--it is cool to meet other people who are into webcomics in person. I'll be attending two conventions in April, and if you also will be attending these conventions, it would be cool to see you there.

Friday, April 16th, through Sunday, April 18th, I will be at the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo. There will be a large contingent of webcartoonists there, and you will probably be able to catch me hanging out at table WC-B with my fellow cartoonist and boss, Gordon McAlpin, and Joel "Hijinks" Watson. Additionally, you can bet I'll be attending the Webcomics Town Hall panel at 7:15 PM on Friday. You will be able to recognize me by the "I Heart Workplace Romance" shirt that I will be sporting.

Should you wish to purchase an "I Heart Workplace Romance" shirt, Gordon will have them for sale at his booth. They are pretty awesome shirts, because I designed them. I'm just sayin'.

In other, slightly less shamelessly self-promoting news, I will also be attending the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo, April 24-25, in Columbus, OH. This looks like a good way to meet like-minded people, it is only an hour or two from where I live, and plus it is only eight bucks. Tom "Marooned" Dellaringa will be in attendance there, and hopefully I'll get a chance to chat with him and possibly pick up a copy of his short comic story A Tale of Two Robots (I love robots). In all likelihood, other cool things will happen as well: cool things that I cannot foresee, bounded as I am within this space and time.

If you are planning to be at either of these conventions, shoot me an email (DeathbyChiasmus -at- gmail -dot- com). It would be cool to connect with you and talk about--what else--comics.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Fine Art of Doing a Bunch of Things

Updates around here have been rather slow, I know. I have taken on a handful of new projects that are keeping me busy when I'm not working my day job, and I continue to work on my plans for the future of this blog. Additionally, doing Borderline Boy strips regularly is a time-consuming endeavor in itself.

Blatant plug for my own comic, I know. Figured if I'm updating something regularly and it isn't this blog, I might as well let you know about it. I try not to be too obnoxious.

Tune in tomorrow, when I will hit you with some convention news. Will there be unnecessary italics? Almost certainly.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Meeting Wes Molebash, Cartoonist and Living Legend


This past Saturday, I took an hour-and-a-half drive out to Schlegel's Coffee in Chillicothe, OH to see Wes Molebash at his comic exhibition. Wes is best known for his now-completed strip about married life, You'll Have That, and he's done several other comics. For the month of March, Schlegel's Coffee House is showcasing his current project, Max vs. Max, a strip about the personal ups and downs of underdog/everyman Max Stanton.

On Saturday evening, Wes made a personal appearance at Schlegel's, so I made a trip down to see him in person. It was great to see him in person and talk comics--and I suppose that this, for me, is the cool thing about webcomics, the connecting.

The internet (at least ostensibly) is all about connecting. When you're reading a webcomic, if you want to say something to the cartoonist, you don't have to get up and get a stamp and envelope and find the guy's address, as you would with a newspaper strip or comic book. You can easily shoot an email or drop a comment. Your reply back may be a simple "thanks for the email; I'm glad you liked today's comic!", and you may not get a deep and personal connection out of it, but the internet has made connecting easier.

There's no substitute for face-to-face communication, but be that as it may, the internet can facilitate saying "hey" in person too. Thanks to the internet, I got to meet some new people this weekend, including one Wes Molebash, a talented cartoonist and a down-to-earth guy.

If you get a chance like this to meet up with a cartoonist whose work you enjoy, I encourage you to take it. Cartoonists like talking with people who like their work! Sure, it's possible to be an obnoxious gushing fan or an obsessive stalker about it, but most people are pretty cool about their art appreciation, and when people are cool about it, cool stuff happens. Swing by a convention or an exhibition or the Buttersafe Expo sometime. I've got a couple of conventions that I'll be swinging by in April--but I digress. I'll drop some more details on that later.

Point is, Wes Molebash is a cool guy who makes cool comics. If you're near Chillicothe, you should swing by the gallery and check out his exhibit. At the coffee shop, you can purchase original Max vs. Max strip artwork, and Wes is also taking commissions and selling original YHT art in order to fund his upcoming wedding. Further details are available at the Max vs. Max site.

Monday, March 8, 2010

A New Face Joins Wishtales Publishing

Happy Monday, my readers. I've got news to share with you today.

You may remember Wishtales Publishing, which I mentioned shortly after its launch last September. Wishtales is bringing aboard former Disney cartoonist Eddie Pittman and his comic "Red's Planet." I've come across Red's Planet a couple of times before receiving the press release, and I liked what I saw--Pittman's professional experience in storytelling through animation comes through strongly, and it's clear he's put a lot of effort and planning and fun into his comic. "Red's Planet" stars a runaway foster child, Red, who is accidentally abducted by aliens. She finds herself marooned on an unfamiliar planet with a weird alien entourage who are even worse than her foster family. It's sharp, cartoony, and an engagingly weird fish-out-of-water adventure.

Incidentally, I had a chance last week to catch up on Moon Town last week, and Steve Ogden is really knocking it out of the park with this one. I can see why he won the "Best New Comic" award in the 2009 Webcomic List Awards. Bottom line is, if you like quality sci-fi storytelling, you can't go wrong with the Wishtales guys. Give 'em all a look, because I'm sure at least one of these guys has got a comic you'll enjoy.

The press release is as follows:

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CARTOONIST AND FORMER DISNEY ARTIST EDDIE PITTMAN JOINS WISHTALES

March 2, 2010 – The independent publishing studio Wishtales has added to their roster of all-ages comics with the addition of Eddie Pittman, creator of the brand new online graphic novel "Red's Planet."

Pittman began his animation career with Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida working on Mulan, Tarzan, Fantasia 2000, The Emperor’s New Groove and Lilo & Stitch. He currently resides in Orlando Florida where he provides a variety of services including storyboard and illustration work.

Pittman recently began publishing his all-ages science fiction graphic novel "Red's Planet" online. Dell'Aringa and Ogden were immediately taken by his wonderful style and smart writing. Emails were exchanged and Pittman eventually provided artwork for Dell'Aringa's first book "Out of Orbit."

Dell'Aringa and Ogden soon realized that Pittman was a perfect fit for Wishtales.

"I brought it up to Steve early in the week and it just seemed like a no-brainer for us. Eddie is not only a wonderful artist, but a wonderful person, too. We share a lot of the same ideas about art and about all-ages material. It's a natural fit. We're just ecstatic Eddie felt the same way," said Dell'Aringa.

Pittman's "Red's Planet" is the story of Red, a 10-year old girl who after running away from her foster home is mistakenly kidnapped by aliens. She soon finds herself across the galaxy and marooned on a deserted planet with an eclectic group of castaways who are much worse than her foster family.

Pittman was happy to join the budding publishing studio.

"I couldn't be more excited to be a part of Wishtales. Tom Dell'Aringa and Steve Ogden are two of my favorite storytellers. Having the opportunity to work with them and bring strong all-ages content to life through Wishtales is a dream come true," said Pittman.

Wishtales we be exhibiting for the first time at the 11th annual Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo in Columbus Ohio in April 24th and 25th, where they will be showing off material from their many creations including "Red's Planet," "Moon Town," "Marooned," "Rag the Viking," "Croaker's Gorge," "Cubicle Pigs" and more.


Wishtales Publishing Studio
http://www.wishtales.com

Red's Planet by Eddie Pittman
http://www.redsplanet.com

Marooned by Tom Dell'Aringa
http://www.maroonedcomic.com


Moon Town by Steve Ogden
http://www.moon-town.com

Sunday, March 7, 2010

I Am Cartooning Regularly Again

Hey everyone. I guess I'll technically be out of hiatus tomorrow, but I wanted to hit you with an announcement real quick. I'm getting back to cartooning regularly, and I'll be droppin' comics over at Borderline-Boy.com once a week at the bare minimum. And I've never intended this blog as a vehicle for self-promotion, so that's all I'll say about that.

TWIW has always been about sharing awesome comics created by people who are not me. The Borderline Boy announcement banner graphic above is comin' down at the end of this week, and if you want to check out my comics, now you know where to go. Back to business.

I'm still working on my plans for the future of this blog, so watch this space for details. Until everything comes together, I'll still try to supply you with some sort of comic-related blather every Monday here, sharing with you the cool comic findings I've discovered. And as always, you can check out the Webcomics Pick of the Day via Twitter for more-or-less daily recommendations.

I'll see you tomorrow with a brand-new post.