Everybody loves a wedding!

Congratulations Tricia and Josh--you guys rock! Please don't tell my publisher I took a break from VIETNAMERICA to illustrate your ketubah.

Farewell SPX. I barely knew ye...

This weekend was phenomenal: an avalanche of awesome new comics, tremendous attendance and foot traffic, silky smooth show organization, and--most importantly--a deluge of great cartoonists and good peeps.



During the weekend, I won a Nerdlinger trophy, a tongue-in-cheek ceremony to honor cartoonists that aren't regulars on those other fancy-pants comic award ballots. Ironically, the Nerdlinger's co-creator/host Liz Baillie also mc'd Saturday's Ignatz Awards, one of said "other fancy-pants comic award" thingies.

SPX was truly spectacular, yet the highlight for me wasn't even part of the show--it was the roadtrip. If you ever have the opportunity to spend 9+ hours in a car with Mr. Phil, Charlito, Fred Chao, and Neil Swaab, pack vicodine because the laughter will pummel every part of your body into excruciating pain.

OMGGBNSPX!

I'm still coming to grips with missing SDCC this summer, so super psyched to be exhibiting at this weekend's SPX! Neil Swaab and I will be rockin' out at table C15 so swing by:



And for anyone interested in a sneak peak and knows the secret password, I'll have a preview of the other 298 pages that go with these two:

"Cartoonist Liberation Fund"

I love comics. I REALLY love Jamie Tanner's comics. Join me in support of him bringing his next graphic novel to fruition. A simple donation gets you goodies and a front row seat to all the thrills 'n' chills of making a comic minus the agonizing self-doubt, financial loss, and bouts of depression!

If you think these are as awesome as I do...

... then grab your credit card and run--don't walk!--to my friend Joanna's Etsy shop.

Back from summer vacation!

And by "summer vacation", I mean busting ass on VIETNAMERICA night and day for the past month and a half, my callous right hand mangled into an inking claw. Being so focused (i.e. a tad stressed out) was the reason for my posting absence, but relative balance has been restored to my life so now back to the bloggin'.

Left pile: Inks finished. Right pile: Unfortunate hold-outs that my editor will have to pry from my cold, dead hands.

Go towards the light.

After inking VIETNAMERICA for four months straight, I finally see the light at the end of the 300-page tunnel. I'm running on fumes, but sheer momentum will help me finish these inks... that, and growing terror as the book's deadline hurtles at me faster and faster.

Remember when comics were FUN?

Y'know, when you could enjoy a single issue cover-to-cover without the constraints of a convoluted epic crossover event spanning multiple titles... or a depressing 300-page generational memoir about a family's war survival (*cough* *cough*)? Fred Chao sure does remember, and lucky for us Adhouse has collected his series JOHNNY HIRO so everyone who missed this kick-ass comic romp the first time now has a second chance. That calls for a celebration:

My colon needs a vacation.

That's what happens when you spend six days in Chicago over a July 4th weekend that included Peruvian wedding cuisine and my wife's extended Italian family's cooking.



My sketchbook output was cut short by all the blood rushing to my stomach, but I'm slowly regaining sensation in my appendages so it's back to inking VIETNAMERICA!

NYC Zinefest's maiden voyage

It ROCKED! The staff put together a fantastic show in an intimate, unique venue with eclectic exhibitors. A great balance of zines, minis, artist books, and all the rest of the cool stuff that make local shows like this awesome and me proud to call NYC home. Picture yoinked from the Zinefest's Flickr stream: