Sweater Thieves

Favorite Music

2010-01-21T15:11:00.000-08:00

Some Comics of 2009

2010-01-08T11:59:00.000-08:00

I made a list of ten comics I read in 2009 and it's posted on reliablecomics.com.

Big House USA

2010-01-01T00:30:00.000-08:00

Updated Reliablecomics.com

2009-12-17T23:37:00.000-08:00

I made a lot of changes to Reliable Comics to make it more of a blog/e-comics deal. For the next month or so there'll be daily postings of all the past Danny Dutch comic strips (I renamed the strip to Reliable Comics' Laugh Menu because there's a dude on flickr named Danny Dutch now and his updates are screwing with my Google Alerts, and the strip's more of an ensemble thing anyhow *making a smug Hollywood face*) and I'm going to put as much of my other comics and drawing junk on there as I can get around to. So check it out and post some comments and subscribe to the RSS feed and buy comics from Sparkplug. From now on I'll only use this site to share Hulu clips and lettering samples.

This image sums it all up:

Venus in Furs in Supertrash in Pittsburg

2009-11-12T12:13:00.000-08:00

I saw this posted on Fantagraphics' blog yesterday, and pal Tom Neely also mentioned it today. A picture of mine is in the Supertrash show at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburg, you can see it there in the bottom photo, second from the left, or just below this sentence.

I also echo Tom's sentiments: "I have very little information about what's going on with the show, but it will be up from October 17th through January 30th" and "I stole the above photos from the Fantagraphics blog."

APE Stuff

2009-10-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

I brought home a bunch of stuff from APE last weekend and I am starting to read through it. Here's the good stuff so far:

LOSE by Michael Deforge
This is a crazy comic with funny JLA satire strips, famous comic characters who are in hell, and great single-panel dog comics. The drawing is also very beautiful. It looks like this guy also did the cover for the issue #4 of Diamond Comics that was also new at APE, but I haven't read it yet. I think this dude will be as famous as Chris Ware.

STAY AWAY FROM OTHER PEOPLE by Lisa Hanawalt
I got this mini-comic and Lisa's other new regular comic but have only read the mini. There are some real solid laughs in here and good drawings. I guess it won a Ignatz award? That's pretty good. The dude at the table I bought it from told me I could get Lisa Hanawalt to sign it for me, but she was talking to some other people and I am shy around everyone and really unpleasant in general, so I just left. I predict she will be as famous as Chris Ware, too, if it's possible for three people be that famous at the same time.

DOOKIE-BALL JONES by Al Frank
Tim Goodyear gave me this thing and it's pretty good. But it's also extremely dirty and mean. There is poop-eating and Craigslist "encounters" and racism and pedophilia, but it's all in good fun/satire. Tim said people give it back to him after they buy it and don't even want their money back. Rated X for eXtraordinary, and because it's very disgusting and offensive--AND IT REALLY MAKES YOU THINK.

HENRY & GLENN FOREVER #1 & #2 by Igloo Tornado
I actually got these from Tom Neely at San Diego Comic-Con Int'l this summer and I think they were new two years ago, but still funny. Issue one posits that Henry Rollins and Glenn Danzig are best buds/lovers/roomies and milks that situation for what it's worth. Number two is more of the same, but now they live next door to Hall & Oates.

That's it for now.

APE This Weekend

2009-10-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

I'll be in San Franciso this weekend for the Alternative Press Expo. Above is the cover of a new mini-comic I did, Crime World. It's 12 pages of action-packed fun about a life of crime. Pick one up at the Sparkplug Comics table, along with one of everything else and make all of us really wondrously wealthy and powerful. Click here for more details from Sparkplug's blog.

SPX This Weekend

2009-09-23T21:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend is SPX! I bet there will be lots of wonderful comics and people there. Specifically, up-and-coming publisher Sparkplug Comic Books and Books will be in attendance with my two comic books and all their other stuff for sale and exposition (see Dylan's Sparkplug blog post for more). If you go to the show check out my Danny Dutch Comic Book--it's nominated for some Ignatz Awards in case you like it and are inclined to vote for stuff like that.

I'm not going to be at this show. But I will imagine myself being there and seeing you there if you are there.

Danny Dutch #41 & #42

2009-09-04T13:33:00.001-07:00

Two new comic strips in my horrid Flickr set!

Henry Boltinoff

2009-08-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

Henry Boltinoff from Adventure Comics #330, 1964

The Covered Blog

2009-07-29T09:09:00.000-07:00

A Jimmy Olsen cover I redrew is on Robert Goodin's Covered blog today.

Comic-Con is Finally Over

2009-07-28T23:08:00.000-07:00

Take a gander at my Flickr set of con pics and our comic-con blog, Funny Town Humor Pump.

The Shortest Promo Blog Post

2009-07-28T23:07:00.000-07:00

My new comic, The Shortest Interval, is now available! Order today from Sparkplug Comics Books! If you're unsure, take a look at the preview that Jason L. at Arthur Magazine posted the other day.

San Diego Comic-Con Int'l

2009-07-20T20:09:00.000-07:00

Beginning this Wednesday night through Sunday evening I will be at San Diego's Comic-Con International. In addition to the continued availablility of the Danny Dutch Comic Book, I have this brand new comic ready to go, The Shortest Interval. I'll be working the crowds at the Sparkplug Comics Books booth (1531) with my pals Dylan Williams, Tom Neely, Chris Cilla, Julia Wertz, Tim Goodyear, Austin English, Damien Jay, Ben Catmull, Minty Lewis, Andrew Smith and maybe more!

Sparkplug's got two other new books, too: Sausage Hand by Andrew Smith and Neptune by Aaron Nels Steinke. All three new books will also be for sale at the Sparkplug table at the Portland Zine Symposium this selfsame weekend!!?! Get the lowdown on the books and shows here. All the new comics should also be for sale on the Sparkplug website sometime soon.

Oh, one more thing: a few of us are going to try to post exciting blog entries during the San Diego show at the highly experimental Funny Town Humor Pump blog. Add it to your feed reader and find out how we're feeling this very second.

I will see you there!

Printing Blog

2009-07-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

I came across a new blog the other day, Quality In Print, that has lots of info on professional printing, of course. There's a lot of stuff about the business of printing and calibrating your workflow and saving ink and stuff like that that I don't know anything about, but there's also lots of useful info that people like me and you who make comic books can learn and use to do a better job and get better looking printed books. Specifically, check out these five posts on dot gain that I found very interesting, and another five about LPI and DPI. Even if you only make mini-comics on the sly at work, this stuff is good if one day you hit the "big time" and it's also interesting if you are a production nerd like Sparkplug Comics' Dylan Williams.

Claptrap #2 by Onsmith

2009-06-28T14:55:00.000-07:00

Old pal Onsmith sent me a copy of his new mini-comic, Claptrap #2, got it on Friday. If you can get your hands on one you will be impressed. People just don't make mini-comics like this anymore, or if they attempt it they fail in comparison. Production value is off the chart with a nice two color silkscreen cover (I already got a spot of coffee or something on mine, unfortunately--goodbye collectible value), and he must've found the cleanest photocopier drum in town to do the guts of the comic; nice dense black, hi-res scans.

The quality of the cartooning in here is the usual grade of wonderful. Dirty gags, confounding doodles, comments on the miserable human condition--all in all a load of laffs. Also a color centerfold, and mine has an original small drawing taped in the back cover. Try to find a copy if you're near Chicago.

Anyhow, he's a good buddy of mine from way back, and it was real nice of him to send me one of these. It's nice to know I have such friends out there.

Sparkplug at Olympia

2009-06-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

Sparkplug Comics will be at the Olympia Comics Festival—TOMORROW ONLY. Also in attendance will be Chris Cilla, Champion of Comics. I'm not going to this show, in fact I didn't even know about it, but I bet it will be a wonderful antidote to the big shows like TCAF and MOCCA. Next up is COMICON INT'L 2009. I'm trying to get a comic finished this weekend for that very show called The Shortest Interval.

Don Knotts

2009-06-02T23:40:00.000-07:00

SICKENING PROMOTION

2009-06-02T12:40:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I post about stuff like this when I'm not going to be there, but some of my pals and Sparkplug Bullpen Buddies are involved in big excitement this weekend at the MOCCA Fest in NYC.

There is the Future Ink Show on Friday:

"Celebrate new releases by cartoonist Minty Lewis who will be debuting her collected Ignatz Award winning PS Comics, along with fellow cartoonists Jesse Moynihan, author of the critically acclaimed Follow Me, Kazimir Strzepek, creator of the Eisner Award-nominated graphic novel The Mourning Star and, last but not least, Olga Volozova and Ignatz nominee Juliacks who will unveil their new collaborative comic book odyssey, Rock That Never Sleeps." more info

And this thing on Saturday:

"Giant Robot is proud to present the Panelists V art show and as well as a reception for three new comic books at the Giant Robot Gallery in the East Village...[the show includes] Alixopulos, Andrice Arp, Shawn Cheng, Tim Hensley, Levon Jihanian, Hellen Jo, Tom Neely, Steven 'Ribs' Weissman...and more!" (I singled out some friends of mine, there's many more people in the show -ed.) more info

Austin E. will be signing his new Windy Corner #3 at Giant Robot on Saturday, also.

Spend all your money while you still have some! Especially on buying Danny Dutch Comic Books to make me really powerfully rich and special. You might also be able to get one of the Danny Dutch/Sparkplug post cards at MOCCA if you look hard or ask.

In the Pipeline

2009-05-28T22:59:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a new mini-comic to have a grand unveiling at San Diego COMICON INT'L this summer, published by my friends, the team at Sparkplug Comic Books and Books and Distributors. It'll be an historical essay in comics form. I have to get it turned around pretty fast, it looks like (I might give up, too).

Henry Boltinoff

2009-05-27T10:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a few strips by Henry Boltinoff! They're dumb, but the guy can cartoon astonishingly. I get old comics now and then, I'll try to post these here and on Flickr as I come across them. Boltinoff did comics to fill space in DC magazines for 150 years.

More Boltinoff
My Previous Boltinoff Post

Danny Dutch #40

2009-05-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

Strip #40

2009-05-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

TCAF Finds

2009-05-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

The Shadow #8, 1975

Legion of Super-Heroes #1, 1989

Above are the covers of the two best comics I brought back from my TCAF trip last weekend. Do they tell you how to make comics like this at CCS?

Danny Dutch Postcard

2009-05-15T13:28:00.000-07:00

I've been working on this postcard the last couple of evenings. I think it's supposed to go in the same print run as Austin English's Windy Corner #3, coming soon. I posted this to show something that I was working on instead of more dumb promo stuff, but I guess I messed it up. Next I'll get back to work on Strip #40 and maybe other stuff.