Rumpus Article on CBLDF

You can read the brief article I wrote for The Rumpus about Charles Brownstein's appearance here.
Thanks to Andrea Tsurumi, Paul Madonna, Isaac Fitzgerald, and (especially) Jess Worby for their editing genius, and to Connie Sun and Ben Katchor for making the New York Comics Symposium a great event every week.

I had the good fortune to catch Charles Brownstein's presentation on his work with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. I had heard of the CBLDF a few years ago at SPX, as they often table at comics expos and events, but I didn't investigate further. Charles is passionate, serious, has a sharp sense of humor, while maintaining a deep appreciation for the absurd and offensive. We are lucky to have such a smart guy to defend the First Amendment in comics. What was most surprising about the 1973 obscenity trial in NYC regarding Zap #4, is that the booksellers, not content creators, were prosecuted and convicted of knowingly distributing obscene material. One of the convicted was a 23 year old Vietnam War veteran.

Ben Katchor hosts weekly panel talks about all things comics at the New York Comics Symposium. Sign up here for his weekly newsletter to see who's in town this week.

Charles Brownstein holds Zap #4.

Interview on The Beat

Dre Grigoropol interviewed me for The Comics Beat, check it out here. I talk about the Joe Bonham Project, comics I like, and awesome veterans I've met. Thanks Dre!

Alfred I. duPont Awards Comic

The nonfiction comic piece I did for the Columbia University School of Journalism's duPont Awards, Passing the Baton, went live today! You can check out the comic here. Thanks to Abi Wright and Beth Canipe for the fun assignment!

*Edit*: The comic is no longer available on the Columbia Journalism School website, so I've posted the full comic here.

Sketches From Last Night

Last night in the studio: drawing Ai Wei Wei, listening to Beyonce. Life is interesting. I recommend checking out the doumentary Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry. These are drawings for a secret project-- I can tell you about it in a week when it's done!

Brotherhood of the Jugband Blues Comic

Brotherhood of the Jugband Blues is a really cool jug band from Brooklyn, who make a lot of fun roots music and write catchy, funny songs. I did this twelve page comic for their upcoming record release party at Jalopy on December 22nd. Take a peek, then get over to Jalopy later in the month, if you're in the city and haven't gone out of town for the holidays just yet.

This project was a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to the release party. Thanks Ernesto for the fun assignment!

Joe Bonham Project on the Cartoon Picayune

(Photo credit: Josh Kramer, Cartoon Picayune.)

 This past weekend, the Joe Bonham Project's second public exhibition was held at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery in Downtown D.C. The reception was well attended and the feedback was incredible, it has been a great experience working with so many wonderful veterans alongside some seriously talented and incredibly gracious artists.

Josh Kramer of the Cartoon Picayune has some nice things to share about the opening, check out his coverage here on the Cartoon Picayune website.

Victor Juhasz posted some really fun photos on his Drawger page of the installation with a few of the other artists, you can see the photos and his reflections on the whole process here.

New York Comics and Picture-Story Symposium

Jess Worby and I will be speaking at Parsons The New School this Monday November 19th as part of the New York Comics and Picture-Story Symposium's Twenty Sixth meeting, facilitated by Ben Katchor. I will be speaking about my recent collaborations with veterans on my current nonfiction comic book project. Jess Worby, in addition to having one of the coolest names, is a talented and highly inventive comics artist. I always enjoy seeing the things he thinks of drawing, he's always up to interesting and weird things. If you're a fan of comic books and live in New York, you would probably not regret coming to this talk. Also, it's free, which sure is handy. You can read about it on the Parsons website here.

Back from SPX - The Small Press Expo

This was my very first time tabling at a convention, and the feedback from other artists was incredible, inspiring, and awesome. Another cool piece of news: Haditha/Katrina and Bethesda minis were selected to be included in the SPX Collection at the Library of Congress. Josh Kramer (Cartoon Picayune) and J.T. Yost (Digestate, Birdcage Bottom Books) were there selling copies of the anthologies I've been lucky to be a part of, it was great hanging out with them and seeing all their hard work paying off--really beautiful comic books! Susie Cagle's thoughts on comic making shared in the Comics on Assignment panel were really inspiring to me. She's done great work in reporting on the Occupy movement and women's health issues in California, where she is based.

Me and Tom Hart with my Sequential Artists Workshop Grant!

Me and Matt Bors talking about how cool comics are.

 

SAW Micro-Grant

I just received the great news that my grant application to the Sequential Artists Workshop Micro-Grant program was accepted. Funds were limited and applications were abundant in number and talent. I'm honored to share this distinction with Julia Gfrorer, her work is really beautifully drawn. You can see some of her work and read about her here on the Comics Journal. Congrats Julie and thank you, Tom Hart and SAW!

Haditha/Katrina in Color

Here's the full version of the comic in Issue 78 (New South Journalism) issue of The Oxford American. Go swipe (and pay for) a copy at your local bookstore. New Yorkers: McNally Jackson has them in, and everyone that works there is nice (and handsome).

Bethesda Part One + Haditha/Katrina Shout-Outs

Here's the Bethesda comic in its entirety so far. This story was told to me by First Lieutenant Michael Rhoads of the Marines in late April of this year at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with other artists from the Society of Illustrators. More stories from Nathan Rimpf and Joshua Wetzel will be added later, probably in late October when the residency is winding down.

*EDIT* I've posted the color version I created in March 2013.

This story will be available as a mini-comic at next week's Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD. It also appears in the forthcoming issue of  The Cartoon Picayune, Issue #4 Distress. There was a nice mention of the CP issue and Haditha/Katrina comic on the SPX blog. Haditha/Katrina also got some nice shout-outs on Graphic Ladies Tumblr, and the Symbolia website (albeit pixelated as all heck).

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Fan Photos For The Oxford American

Diana and I do a poor job containing our excitement for the new issue of the Oxford American. What's that you're reading? No big deal--just great comics journalism in a nationally distributed magazine.