Kevin Cannon's Far Arden nominated for an Eisner Award

That's right--our own Kevin Cannon has gotten an Eisner nod for his James-Bond-meets-Jack-London arctic tour de force Far Arden!

Revel in the glory and check out the formidable competition on the Eisner nominations page!

Congratulations, Kevin!

Early Review of Star Trek: The Next Generation: Ghosts #1

The first issue of Star Trek: TNG: Ghosts came out this Wednesday, and there's an early review up on TrekMovie.com!

TrekMovie's Ghosts Review

I'm pleased that Mark Martinez (the reviewer) feels that the story hews closer to the more detailed and serious Next Generation stories rather than the action-focused recent movie, and states that "...those of you who grew up with the Enterprise-D will feel right at home." High praise, indeed. I hope readers will feel like this comic comes close to capturing the spirit of the 24th century.

UPDATE: Another review has popped up on TrekWeb. It's less positive, but I do like that it posits that there are more words in this comic than any other Star Trek comic. Why thank you very much! It also has this comment:

...The remainder you can write yourself if you're vaguely familiar with The Next Gen: Riker is impatient (Page 2), Picard is diplomatic (Page 2), Troi feels overpowering emotion (Page 5--but not addressed until Page 16!), and Geordi solves a problem with 24th century science (Page 19). All that was missing was Data commenting on humanity and Worf jumping over his console.

Well, all I have to say is don't count us out yet! We'll make this a drinking game if it kills us.

TrekWeb's Ghosts Review

Ex Astris Scientia!

Far Arden on Graphic Novel Reporter

I recently did an interview with John Hogan over at Graphic Novel Reporter. Check it out!



Also check out their main page -- there are some great interviews with Junot Diaz, Emmanuel Guibert, and local physics hero James Kakalios.

T-Minus reviewed by Todd Klein!

Todd Klein, comics superstar and letterer of (among many, many other things) Top Ten, has reviewed T-Minus: the Race to the Moon on his blog! Thanks Todd! A quotation:

Ottaviani and the Cannons make excellent use of the comics format to tell this complex story in interesting ways. (...) Parts of the story are told simultaneously through the clever use of large panels and small panels on the same pages, each telling a different narrative.

You can check it out, as well as his other reviews, tips, observations, and dissections of the finer points of comics lettering at kleinletters.com.

2 DAYS UNTIL BIG FUNNY

Some links for today, in preparation for this Friday's opening reception:

Danno presents more photos from the hanging party:


Click on Steve for the link

Jamie presents a [hopefully] false news story, inspired (I imagine) by the very real flood that nearly destroyed all 2,000 copies of Big Funny a few days ago:

Click on Guy for the link


BIG FUNNY in the media (updated!):

• City Pages
  
• Optical Sloth
  
• Little Hokum Rag
  
• Twin Cities Daily Planet
  
• The Onion AV Club
  
• Poopsheet Foundation
  
• Newsarama
  

4 DAYS UNTIL BIG FUNNY

Hard to believe that it was well over a year ago when a few of the Lutefisk Sushi C curators sat down to ask the all-important question: "What's next?"

Well, what's next is BIG FUNNY -- the hybrid gallery show and 48 page comics section. The printed newspapers have been sitting quietly in a secret location on Quincy Street, with only a handful having been released to the media. The paper will be released to the public (for a measly $5) at the opening reception this FRIDAY, AUGUST 7.

So come down to the opening this Friday and join over forty artists and their friends and family, as well as the Roe Family Singers. In addition to the long-awaited newspaper, you'll be able to check out original artwork from the paper, century-old newspaper strips (thanks to Steve Stwalley!), and never-before-seen original work from cartoonist William Ede.

Plus, the first 70 people to buy a copy of Big Funny at the opening get THIS.

BIG FUNNY in the media:

• The Onion AV Club
  
• Poopsheet Foundation
  
• Newsarama
  

Far Arden on MPR's Art Hounds

Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hounds is a weekly series where local artists talk about something they're enjoying in a medium other than their own. This morning Britt Aamodt -- journalist, local radio personality, and author of an upcoming book on Minnesota cartoonists -- talked about Far Arden. Thanks, Britt!

You can hear Art Hounds archived on mprnewsq.com, or listen in today at 4:45pm to 91.1 FM for a rebroadcast.

My Science Cartoon Needs Your Vote!

The Union of Concerned Scientists is back again with Science Idol, a cartoon contest that is ostensibly named after a popular American children's television program. For the second year in a row one of my cartoons is a top twelve finalist, and I need your vote to make it to that coveted #1 spot.

You can click here to read about the contest and click here to vote.

Fun fact: After I drew the above cartoon, I learned that the oval office desk pictured is actually built from the famous ship HMS Resolute, which was stranded in the arctic on its way to rescue Franklin in the 1850s. The ship was eventually rescued by James Buddington and sent back to England. The Queen then turned around and made a desk out of it as a gift for President Rutherford B. Hayes.

However, Wikipedia tells me that if you've seen the film National Treasure: Book of Secrets, then you already know all this.

Recent Book Reviews

T-Minus: The Race to the Moon on Marty Devine's MAD WORLD, The X-Librarian, Savannah Morning News, and Telegraph-Journal.

Far Arden on Bookforum and School Library Journal.

Stuff of Life on The Johnandjanaverse.

Big Funny on Newsarama

Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon will both be at Comic-Con International 2009!

Hi folks, I hope you're all as excited as we are to be going to Comic-Con in sunny San Diego this coming Thursday. Kevin and I will be there to chat you up, tell jokes, draw sketches, and, in a departure from our usual inwardly-focused convention personas, give panels!

First of all, where to find us:

Here are our two locations in the context of the whole place. Zander will be on the left, in Artists Alley, Kevin will (primarily) be on the right, at the Top Shelf booth.

Zander will be at CC-01, which you can remember by thinking "CC=Comic-Con, and 01=Zander is Numero Uno". Easy!

Kevin will be flogging his new hot book Far Arden at the Top Shelf booth, number 1721, which you can remember by thinking "R-rated movies, alcohol".

And for completeness' sake, here is the:

Comic-Con Floor Plan

We will also be doing panels. As mentioned in a previous post, Kevin will be contributing to a Top Shelf panel at the same time that I will be giving a talk on how to do comics in the small, medium and big press.

Thursday, July 23

4:00-5:00 How-To Session: Zander Cannon— Zander Cannon has been working in comics since 1993 and has done both writing and art duties on comics about knights, robots, spacemen, cops, superheroes, ghosts, and mythical creatures. His presentation will cover how to produce comics and other books as an independent publisher. With Kevin Cannon (no relation) he runs the studio Big Time Attic, which focuses on educational comics for book publishers. Room 18
Categories: Art and Illustration | Comic Books | Seminars & Workshops

4:00-5:00 Top Shelf in 2009— With League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Vol. III) and the new edition of Lost Girls, plus The Surrogates movie starring Bruce Willis hitting theaters on September 25, and literary titles such as Essex County, Alec, and Far Arden being released, it's going to be an amazing year at Top Shelf. Come talk with publisher Chris Staros and creators Robert Venditti (The Surrogates), Jeff Lemire(Essex County), Kevin Cannon (Far Arden), and Nate Powell (Swallow Me Whole) to find out all the details. Room 10
Categories: Comic Books | Movies

On Friday, Zander will be part of Douglas Wolk's panel:

Friday, July 24

Sun, Jul 19, 09:49AM

1:30-2:30 After the First 1,000 Pages— It takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert at something. Art teachers say that you have to make 100,000 bad drawings before you can make a good one. Becky Cloonan (Demo), Zander Cannon (Top 10), Roger Langridge(The Muppet Show Comic Book), and Matt Kindt (Super Spy) will discuss how they've developed as artists since their early work and the creative breakthroughs that took them a while to reach. Moderated by Douglas Wolk(Reading Comics). Room 10
Categories: Art and Illustration | Comic Books | Comic-Con Special Guest Spotlights & Appearances

And on Saturday, I'll be here with Andy Schmidt talking about Art Portfolios:

Saturday, July 25

4:00-5:00 Building Your Art Portfolio— Moderated by Comics Experience founderAndy Schmidt (X-Men, Annihilation) and featuring the expert advice of comic creatorsChris Bachalo (X-Men, Generation X), Todd Nauck (Spider-Man, Young Justice), Robert Atkins (G.I. Joe), C. B. Cebulski (Marvel Talent Coordinator), and Zander Cannon (Top 10), this panel covers everything an aspiring comics artist needs to know about building a portfolio and getting his or her first gig. Join the discussion and ask your questions at the end! Room 30CDE
Categories: Art and Illustration | Cartooning and Comic Strips | Comic Books |Seminars & Workshops | Webcomics

I'll also be signing at the Wildstorm Booth (part of the DC pavilion, you can't miss it) at these times:

Friday 3-4 pm

Saturday 3-4 pm

Sunday 11:30 am-12:30 pm

Looking forward to seeing you all there, amigos!

Tim McNiff is Touching Our Book!

Check out this fun interview with KARE11's Tim McNiff and local Head Hacker Bruce Stasch. This past winter Zander and I worked with Bruce to create the Hacker character & identity, and eventually produced the cover design and some spot illustrations for Hacker's Guide.

Click the image below to watch Bruce explain why 80% of all Minnesota golfers should have this book sitting in the back seat of their car:



Just a few weeks ago I was stumbling around Barnes & Noble and saw a big golf-themed table display with Hacker's Guide sitting front and center! Ego boosts are fun.

hackersguides.com

Big Funny: Poopsheet & Pre-order

Big Funny's first review is online at Poopsheet Foundation! Click logo to read it:


Can't make it to the gallery opening at Altered Esthetics on August 7th but want to grab a copy of Big Funny? You can now pre-order a copy (limit one per customer at this point) on the Big Funny website.

Just click here and then scroll down until you see the purchase button:


If you don't have a paypal account, you can use a credit card.

The massive, 48 page Big Funny newspaper is $5. If you're pre-ordering one we tack on $5.95 for shipping & handling.

T-Minus in the New York Times Book Review

Zander and Jim and I were thrilled to learn that our latest graphic novel, T-Minus: The Race to the Moon, is featured in today's New York Times Book Review. This is a huge honor and not one we would have ever expected!

Jack Shafer's review is available to read online at NYTimes.com.

Game Informer Braid 2 joke makes it to the official Braid blog!

As everyone who reads this blog surely knows, once a year we draw an illustration for Game Informer's April Fools edition, "Game Infarcer". This year, as luck would have it, the topic was Braid, a game that I absolutely loved, and I was thrilled to draw a parody of it. Better yet, the guys over at GI just let me know that Jonathan Blow, the creator of Braid, put up the image to joke about a sequel to Braid. Nice! Here it is on the official Braid blog, and here is the image without all that dang copy.

City Pages Annual Comix Issue: CALL FOR ENTRIES!

It's that time of year again: City Pages is gearing up for its third annual City Pages Comix Issue and is looking for submissions. City Pages has a readership of over 50,000 discerning eyes, and is thus a great showcase for any cartoonist. And even if your cartoon isn't picked for the print edition, it will be published online. Don't forget, last year the Comix Issue won a prestigious AltWeekly Award!

Please read all of following information very carefully (a few things have changed since last year):

From Nick Vlcek, City Pages Art Editor:

This year's theme: "MINNESOTA NICE"

Deadline is Wednesday, August 5th. That's when we'll close the space and figure out what we have to run. If there's any changes that need to be made or if a work is not finished, we have one more week, but we're not any more slots past the 5th.

What we learned from last time:

There is a finite amount of space for the print edition. DO NOT FEEL LIKE YOU WERE PASSED OVER BECAUSE YOUR STUFF DIDN'T MAKE IT IN TO PRINT. We'll put everything we get up online.

Regarding above, everyone should work in a horizontal, quarter page size:

9.75" wide by 2.5" tall

[ Click to download a Photoshop template ]

If you want/need to do something larger, contact me first, otherwise don't necessarily expect it will run in print! (half page is 9.75" wide by 5.4" tall; full page is 9.75" wide by 11.25" tall).

Black and white JPEGS, 300dpi actual size, or larger (fit to scale).

All email should be addressed to:

nvlcek [at] citypages.com

Subject should read: CP Comics Issue

Every email needs to have the title of the piece and the credit (how you'd like your name to appear in print). We will also need a W-9 (click to download) filled out and attached to the email with your real name and address if you want to be paid. Those who sent in a W-9 last year and got paid will not have to send one if their address hasn't changed.

Payments are $25 to all, another $25 if your panel makes it into print. That is the same rate no matter what size it ends up being.

Thanks for all!

Congrats to Tim Sievert and City Pages Cartoonists!

First off, congrats to Tim Sievert (former BTA employee and current PUNY wizard) for his Harvey nomination for "Best New Talent." Of course, Tim's amazing work is anything but new to us here in Minneapolis, so it's about damn time he got nominated for this award.

Tim is being nominated for his Top Shelf book That Salty Air, and you can read about his current project, The Intrepideers, here.



And congrats to everyone involved in last year's City Pages Comix Issue. City Pages won a third place trophy in the "Special Section" category. Cartoonists involved in the winning section include local as well as national names:

Derf, Carl Nelson, Kevin Cannon, Kevin McCarthy, Ken Avidor, Steven Stwalley, Jon Adams, Scott Gallatin, Keith Pille, Britt Hammerberg, Ward Sutton, Jonathan Baylis, David Beyer Jr., Ben-Z, Bud Burgy, Zander Cannon, Spanky Cermak, Will Dinski, Ryan Dow, King Drowns, Andrey Feldshteyn, Michael Furious, Blake Hunter, Matthew Kriske, Kelly McNutt, Lupi Miguinti, MJ, Daniel Olson, Dave Sandberg, Tim Sievert, Andy Singer, Jon Sloan, Mike Toft, and Lewis Tuck

You can read all the comix online. Congrats to all involved, and stay tuned for information about this summer's City Pages Comix Issue!

Jim Ottaviani T-Minus Interview on The Comics Reporter

Our friend, collaborator, and co-author of T-Minus Jim Ottaviani gives a long and insightful interview about his space race tour de force on The Comics Reporter.  Tom Spurgeon always conducts excellent interviews, and this is no exception.  

Jim Ottaviani T-Minus interview

Vita.MN on Newstands Today

Pick one up -- it's FREE.




Thanks to Leslie at Vita.MN for asking us to do the cover!

The Fate of Top Ten, continued...

Hey Top Ten fans, I just want to thank you for the outpouring of support I hear we've gotten about wanting to see the story continue.  It's gratifying to know that people care so much about these characters and this world that they will take the time to write in and make their preferences known.  Now, I should also say that my editor's getting a lot of mail that is less than constructive about the fate of Top Ten and what's to be done about it, so let's take this opportunity to go over a few thoughts, shall we?

1.  You get more flies with honey than with vinegar.  That is to say, you improve the chances of Top Ten continuing by sending positive emails that focus on your deep love of the series and your honor-bound promise to buy every issue that comes out than by insulting DC, Wildstorm, the editors, and the accountants and accusing them of playing bait-and-switch.

2.  Speaking of which, there are many factors that have led to the current situation, and things are not always as black-and-white as they may seem.  It's always tempting to find a villain in a difficult situation, but I can tell you that everyone involved acted with good intentions and everyone wants to put out a comic that people love and will read.

3.  This is a follow-up to this post, in which I posted a summary of events, calling it "the semi-official statement from Wildstorm through me".  While I typed that in good faith, feeling that it was an accurate representation of what I had heard, it was not in any way an official statement, and I retract that label.  I don't speak for Wildstorm, and I am not privy to their decision-making process.  

Top Ten is perhaps the most fun series I've ever worked on; I would love to have it continue and pay off the storylines which have been established.  Stay positive, and send your proclamations of love to:

AskWS [at] dccomics [dot] com

Thanks again!

Interview with Jim Ottaviani at Yet Another Comics Blog

Friend of BTA and collaborator on two projects (Bone Sharps and T-Minus), Jim Ottaviani is the man to talk to about science comics.  Here at Yet Another Comics Blog, he gives an interview about the process of making T-Minus and has some nice things to say about his co-authors.

Top 10 Season 2 continuing?

UPDATE:  I've just written about the situation in another post;  you can find it here.

UPDATE:  I've been given an email address that fans wanting to make themselves heard about Top Ten continuing can use to contact Wildstorm:

AskWS (at) dccomics (dot) com

Let's let them know Top Ten has some fans out there!  But ask nicely, won't you?  For me? 

This week saw the release of Top 10 Season 2 #4, the supposed end of the 4-issue series.  As people read it and wonder why all the plot lines are not resolved, here is a semi-official statement from Wildstorm through me my take on the situation:

The series was originally conceived as an 8-issue story with 2 standalone specials.  The first special, focusing on the courtroom dramas in a superhero city, is coming out next month with art by Da Xiong.  Wildstorm and DC are looking at the sales and response on these 5 comics and using that to determine how to continue the series. 

We're hoping that the responses to the special will be good so that we can continue this series, which seems to be relatively well received, critically.  Here is a new review of #4, from Comic Book Resources:

Top 10 Season 2 #4 review

EDIT:  Wildstorm has not made any official statements on this matter, and to my mind the decisions that they made have been understandable.  I apologize if I portrayed them to be unreasonable or unresponsive.

EDIT:  Rich Johnston has put out a call to save Top 10 on his Lying in the Gutters column on Comic Book Resources.  Thanks, Rich!

Guest Strip on The Daily Cross Hatch

Check it out:

www.thedailycrosshatch.com

T-Minus Featured As Junior Library Guild Selection

Zander and I (and Jim) were excited to learn recently that the Junior Library Guild has picked T-Minus: The Race to the Moon as a Junior Library Guild Selection for Spring 2009. JLG highlights soon-to-be-released books that they believe will provide "excellent reading experiences for children." We know what a great book T-Minus is (because we've been living and breathing it for the last year) so it's exciting that JLG feels the same way!

The recognition from JLG includes a write-up in their monthly magazine:

[ click for larger version ]



I should stress, though, that while the "official" age range for T-Minus is listed as 8-12, the Junior Library Guild recommends it for grades 7-11 (ages 12-17), and we here at the studio feel like there is nothing about the book that skews terribly young.  From the candle-lit sketches of Tsiolovsky to Germany's V-2 rockets to the various disasters and successes of US and Soviet rockets, it's a well-rounded introduction to the space race. And in Jim Ottaviani's capable hands, the whole epic story is seen through the eyes of two NASA engineers, Max Faget and CC Johnson. So don't let the age range scare you away!

Learn more about the Junior Library Guild
Pre-order T-Minus

Zander Cannon interview at Comic Book Resources

I recently did an interview with Alex Dueben at Comic Book Resources, in which we talk about Top Ten, The Stuff of Life, T-Minus, and a little-known new project of ours at IDW, Bumblebee.  

Zander Cannon at Comic Book Resources

Zander Cannon giving a talk at the Loft Literary Center on Tuesday, March 10th!

click on image for article

This coming Tuesday (3/10/09) at 7pm, I'm going to be giving a "reading" of an excerpt of Top 10 #4, the latest issue in the new iteration of the comic book series by Gene Ha and me.  If you're wondering how one would give a reading of a comic book, that makes two of us. What I decided to do was to project the pages on a screen to allow people to read the comic themselves (as well as the layouts and script of those pages) while I give a sort of "director's commentary" there at the podium.  

The event is held at the Target Performance Hall at the Open Book building here in downtown Minnneapolis, and is free and open to the public.  Come on by!  Bring lots of questions!

The information is here:

Local Motion Reading

and the Open Book building can be found here:

1011 Washington Ave S

The City Pages covered the event using some out-of-date information from our website:

City Pages A-List

Kevin and Zander Cannon interviewed on Newsarama about T-Minus!

Michael Lorah interviewed Kevin and me about our upcoming book T-Minus: the Race for the Moon, coming in May from Simon and Schuster's Aladdin Books imprint. Written by Jim Ottaviani, the book covers the US-Soviet space race from a century before Sputnik up to the US moon landing 40 years ago this summer.

Cannons to the Moon: Zander and Kevin Cannon Talk T-Minus

Listen to Mark Schultz on NPR's "Science Friday"

Mark Schultz had a great conversation with Ira Flatow on Friday. You can listen to the 12 minute segment here:



Thanks, Ira!

Zander Cannon at New York Comic-Con 2009!

Hey, are you going to the New York Comic-Con on February 6-8, 2009?  ME TOO!  Come by my table; I'm in the Artist Alley, table B-6.  I'll be doing sketches (full figure, grayscale: $60) and selling original pages, as well as a bunch of minicomics and books you may have not heard about.

Top Ten Season Two Gets an All-Too-Generous Review

Rich Johnston of Comic Book Resources' column "Lying in the Gutters" has a very short review of Top Ten Season Two:

Zander Cannon and Gene Ha’s “Top Ten Season Two" is as good as Alan Moore, Gene Ha and Zander Cannon’s “Top Ten Season One." Just thought you should know.

Well, I'm flabbergasted.

Comic Book Resources Interviews Cannon Brothers

Zander and I recently sat down (via email) with Van Jensen and chatted about how we could possibly find a way to make a subject like DNA interesting. You can read this lively exchange at Comic Book Resources.

Thanks, Van!

Seed Magazine Names Stuff of Life a Best Book of 2008

Read the whole list here.

Thanks, Seed!

Zander Cannon, Kevin Cannon, Steve Stwalley, and Danno Klonowski on KFAI FM!

Kevin and I joined Steve Stwalley (Soapy the Chicken, Stwallskull) and Danno Klonowski (Staplegenius!) to chat with Britt Aamodt on the Wave Project at KFAI 90.3 FM last night.  The show was called "The Cartoonists", and covered what it's like to be a cartoonist, what is the nature of cartoons as opposed to illustration, and various other chit-chatty stuff.  We had a great time, and it was pretty cool to be in a radio station, getting our hands slapped away whenever we tried to touch the fancy microphones.  

You can listen to the broadcast on the KFAI website here until December 28, 2008:  The Cartoonists

Hang in there-- the previous show (an Oromo music show called Voice Of Oromiyaa) ran a little late, so the show starts at 1:38.

Stuff of Life Video Online!

Our new graphic novel, The Stuff of Life, will be in stores on December 23rd, just in time for Christmas, if you hurry. To whet your appetite until then, we have a cartoon to show you that will give you the gist of the book. Click the image to watch the video.



If your computer can handle it, click on "watch in higher quality".

For this animation,
1. Kevin wrote the story and storyboarded it, then
2. Kevin colored the characters from the book and digitally painted the background, then
3. PUNY started the process of preparing the characters for animation, then
4. I did the voices for Bloort and Floorsh (Kevin has a cameo role; see if you can find it), then
5. PUNY animated the characters to match my voice, then
6. PUNY added sound effects and music, then
7. I recorded my voice singing along to the music, then
8. PUNY put it all together (magically, as far as I could tell).

I expect that PUNY will put up a post about some of the animation techniques; I can only offer what it was like to do voices for a cartoon. First, I went down to record in PUNY's high-tech interim sound booth (a foam cartoon character costume about 2 1/2 feet in diameter hung from the ceiling with a fancy microphone electrical-taped to an incompatible mike stand all wired to a laptop three feet away), .



Will Shepard did the directing and sound editing (I actually spoke all of the lines several times before moving on to the next one, and I did the characters separately) and tweaked it all together to make it all sound funny and natural. All the little "ohh..."s and "A-ha"s were recorded completely out-of-context as a long stream of interjections, and he figured out where to put them in and make me sound like a pro. Nice work, Will!

Every time I went down to PUNY to do voices, I saw the incrementally-more-finished sound booth in which one day, ONE DAY, I will record some voices. Probably for some energetic, educational cartoon dog.

Finally, I offer my stunned amazement at how beautiful the animation was for this sequence. PUNY will have more detail on who did what, but all I can say is I think it looks fantastic.  

The video can be seen at:

Big Time Attic's YouTube channel

and

Hill & Wang's official The Stuff of Life page.

Not to mention

The PUNY Blog

which has Mike Owens' insights about animating the short, as well as some photos of the swanky sound booth.

Wired Reviews Stuff of Life

Wired's December issue has a great review of our upcoming graphic novel, The Stuff of Life.



Stuff will be in stores on December 23, but in the meantime you can read more at www.theStuffofLifeBook.com.

Thanks, Wired!

Top 10 Season 2 #1 out today!

From the Previews listing:

Written by Zander Cannon; Art and Cover by Gene Ha 

AMERICA'S BEST COMICS. A new season dawns in the science-city of Neopolis! A new commissioner, along with some new rules, comes to Precinct 10, as Slipstream Phoenix, a rookie cop with an ugly secret, fights for respect among his new peers. Meanwhile, Shock-Headed Peter and the Dust Devil investigate a mysterious, ancient drug dealer, and a very public multiple homicide sets Captain Jetman and Lieutenant Peregrine scrambling for answers. 

The police procedural crime and intrigue continue in this new series based on concepts and characters created by legendary writer Alan Moore (WATCHMEN, V FOR VENDETTA). 

---------------

This series picks up where the original 12 issue left off, with Smax and Toybox off on the adventure chronicled in Smax, and the rest of the precinct without an interim commissioner. Fans of the original Alan Moore-penned series will hopefully find this to be similar in tone, and reference-hunters will not be let down.

First off, I have to give monumental thanks to Kevin and Shad, who came up with a good portion of the plotlines and gags (due to a clerical error, Shad was not credited in this issue; I am told he will be in future issues), and were extremely helpful in getting this series going.

I probably needn't say how fantastic Gene Ha's art is on this series, but I will anyway-- he delivered pages that took my humdrum ol' layouts and turned them into the fantastic science-city of Neopolis-- again. Thanks, Gene. I've seen what he's done for the next couple issues, too, and it's amazing.

So go on down to the comic store (or, if you're in the Twin Cities, come to FallCon this weekend) and get yourself a copy. Gene will be in town for the show this weekend and we'll both sign it!

UPDATE:  Some reviews have cropped up on iFanboy:

Pick of the Week by Josh Flanagan

Capsule review by ultimatehoratio

Capsule review by TehDave

UPDATE 2:  The reviews just keep on coming!

Pick of the Week on The Invincible Super-Blog

En Espanol on La Historieta.com

Capsule review at the 217

The Comic Pants likens it to 'New Coke'

The Savage Critic looks at the #1s this week

UPDATE 3:  Some more reviews:

PopSyndicate

Fascination Place

The Washington Times (!)

Comics Daily

Crisis on Earth-Prime

Newsarama Best Shots

FilmFodder.com

Comics And... Other Imaginary Things

iFanboy's Pick of the Week podcast #153 (just the first 10 minutes)

The Pipeline podcast Best of the Week (not really a review--just a recommendation)

Conventioneers

Comic Book Resources

Capsule review on Challengerscomics.com

Cosmic Comics and Toys

Adventurous Ink

Rack Raids

Kevin and Zander's City Pages Cartoons about the Republican National Convention are in Print!

It's sort of a long story, but both of our Republican National Convention cartoons that we did for the City Pages have finally seen print! Kevin's in the July 9 edition, mine in the August 27 edition. Neither Kevin nor I are big political cartoonists, but the City Pages threw down the gauntlet and we obliged.

Kevin's "X-Cape From X-Cel"
Print Edition Online Edition

Zander's "Five Blind Elephants"
Print Edition Online Edition

NOTE: On City Pages' site, click the text link, not the image link
The people of the City Pages were good enough to put my cartoon in a later edition when an email mixup prevented it from being in the first one. Thanks, folks! You can find all of the RNC cartoons at the City Pages website; there's a heck of a lot of great stuff on there, and our beloved Cartoonist Conspiracy is well-represented.

This is the second year that the City Pages has put together a comics issue; last year's was "Tales of the Twin Cities", and Kevin's and my cartoons ran side by side in that one (as opposed to being separated by 7 weeks).

More San Diego Photos

Here are some behind the scenes photos of the long, arduous process of shooting a 20 second bumper for G4. Oh the grueling days, oh the sleepless nights. Oh the well-stocked catering table. It was the toughest four minutes I'll ever love.

Thanks to Shad for the photos!





On Saturday night, I ended up running around with my old friends from my New England Comics Press days: Ben Edlund and Jackson Publick.


Zander (left) and Ben Edlund

Zander (left) and Chris...er, Jackson Publick

Zander and the NEC Press crew

Zander's on G4's Attack of the Show!

Some dudes with cameras and large personalities came by my booth at Comic-Con on Thursday and wanted to film a concluding segment for their video convention report. Would I please sketch while Zach Selwyn wraps it up in Attack of the Show style? Why certainly!



For a larger version, as well as all of the other Comic-Con segments, visit:

Attack of the Show!

Rock Atlas Nominated for 2008 AltWeekly Award

I'm thrilled to announce that the "Twin Cities Rock Atlas" has been nominated for a 2008 AltWeekly Award in the category of "Innovation."

The Rock Atlas originally appeared in the 11/19/07 edition of City Pages, the Twin Cities' big weekly alternative paper. The Atlas was written by Peter S. Scholtes and art directed by Nick Vlcek.

You can see the Rock Atlas on the City Pages Blotter and read about the art process on the Big Time Attic blog.

Details on the AltWeekly Awards are here. Winners are announced in Philadelphia at the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Conference, June 5-7. Nominees for the "Innovation" category are:

INNOVATION circulation 55,000 and over

City Pages (Twin Cities): Twin Cities Rock Atlas in print (PDF) and online by Peter Scholtes, Jeff Shaw and Kevin Cannon

The Pitch: Smoke & Mirrors: story and podcast by Eric Barton

Westword: Paint the Town Read: in print (PDF) and online by Amy Haimerl and Kenny Be

INNOVATION circulation under 55,000

Orlando Weekly: Downtownopoly (PDF) by Shan Stumpf, Jeffrey C. Billman and Bob Whitby

Santa Barbara Independent: Locals Only by Matt Kettmann and Aly Comingore

Tucson Weekly: Project White House: Presidential Candidate Contest (PDF), Run for President, Project White House Deadline Extended, Speaking of Presidential Campaigns, Let the Games Begin! and Project White House the Blog

Note: the original art from the Rock Atlas is currently on view at Altered Esthetics gallery in NE Minneapolis (through May 31). This is the last time you or I will ever be able to see it in public!

Bone Sharps on HBO

In a previous post, we told you that for over two years now we've known that our graphic novel Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards would appear in a scene from HBO's "Tell Me You Love Me" pilot.

Well, the dvd is out and we finally get to watch the scene! Shad has posted a clip on YouTube:



At first I was a little disappointed. Initially it looked to me like the actors were adlibbing lines -- treating our precious book as nothing more than a prop. But NO! The two parents read an actual panel from page 55 AND, to smother icing on an already towering cake, the way the panel is read provides the only humor in an albeit intentionally humorless show.

We should note that the scene was shot in a mirror, hence the horizontal flip of the cover. Something to do with metaphors.

Will Bone Sharps continue to be featured in every episode of "Tell Me You Love Me?" Probably. We'll just have to watch closely and find out.


UPDATE
In episode 4, at 0:12, the dad (Dave) implies that he has read Bone Sharps to his son one hundred times.

Big Time Attic Gets a Shout-Out in Metro Magazine

Hey, the January issue of Metro Magazine, an excellent monthly about cool stuff in the Twin Cities, had a sidebar talking up the best local blogs. Check it out! We're the best local comics blog!



Big thanks to Chuck Terhark for the traffic spike.

Also thanks to LA for the heads-up.

Muscles & Fights Signing at The Source: This Saturday!

Click image for book signing and party details...