It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time...

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:14:36 GMT

What do you think about this?

I think my suggestion came across as more radical than I'd intended, but it's resulting in an interesting discussion.

Almost There...

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:00:09 GMT

Okay, the new site's front page is almost done, comments enabled and everything. We just need to jump through a few hoops to get the permalinks and rss to play nice and then there can be a central feed for LJ, the Facebook page, etc...

Stop by toss in your two cents on the burning issue of the day: whether Craig Thompson is the Sufjan Stevens of comics.

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:01:40 GMT

[cross-posted with the new site still, but hope to have a proper blog live soon]

Dylan Horrocks Awaits You

The great Dylan Horrocks has relaunched his website with new comics and other content that will mess with your head in exciting new ways.

Get your brain and eyes and bookmarks to hicksvillecomics.com now.

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:57:32 GMT

[cross-posted for now with the new site]

More Infographic Terror

Everybody and his brother is linking to this great animation by Jonathan Jarvis about the credit crisis:

Literally my brother in this case, who was blogging regularly about the housing collapse before it happened here.

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:44:25 GMT

[Yeah, I'm working on it]

Five-Card Flickr?

Another invention has been mutating while I've been hibernating (this time via Ms. Nancy).

Check out 5-Card Story & 5-Card Flickr by way of the esteemed Alan Levine, aka CogDog, and add your own photos the pool.

Oh! And argue about whether it's comics or not.

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 06:14:31 GMT

[cross-posted with my new blog until it's a little more bloggy and a little less lame]

Information Wants to be Loved

Two videos. My daughter Sky showed me this last week:

And Cat Garza showed us this on his blog last week:

They've both been around for a while (2006 & 2002), but if you've never seen either I strongly recommend both. [dates edited to match main page]

Funny thing is, I love the first one because it's all about pure information—spare, monochrome, one idea at a time—and I love the second one because it's just the opposite: a cascading waterfall of mostly useless infographics. Maybe it's just the sensation of being taught. Maybe it's just porn for info-geeks like me. Either way I can't take my eyes off them.

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:24:28 GMT

[Cross-posted with the new site blog until I have a proper rss feed bloggy thing]

Making Faces

The Grimace Project is a freakishly cool facial expression generator that came out a few weeks ago in which you can mix and match any two of the six "emotional primaries" that I charted in Chapter 2 of Making Comics.

The project comes out of the Vienna University of Technology under the guidance of Peter Purgathofer. The team kindly acknowledges me, but credit is equally due to my own inspirations for the charts, artist Gary Faigin and researcher Paul Eckman -- not to mention Mr. Darwin.

Facial expressions should be taught in every grade school. Just because kids can "write" and "read" them through instinct is no reason not to help them understand this powerful communicative tool we all carry around on the front of our heads. Widgets like the Grimace Project could be a great starting point.

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:27:50 GMT

It's Alive!

So, I updated the site. All feedback welcome, including:

1. Typos
2. Bugs
3. Stuff you like
4. Stuff you hate
5. Features you want to see added
6. Suggestions for front page conversion to full PHP (probably WP) blog in the near future.
7. A better name for the blog

Thanks!

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:44:42 GMT

Poughkeepsie this Saturday.

Going to NonCon at Vassar Saturday (Feb 21). Lecture at 2pm, and presumably hanging around a bit as well. See you there!

-----

New Site and Blog next week, BTW. Just ironing out some bugs this week.

The Future is Here

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 22:03:56 GMT

It's official!

A few weeks ago, I visited the Manhattan offices of our friends at First Second books to discuss my plans for an original graphic novel that I've been dreaming of for more than two decades, and which, in the last couple of years, has become a full-blown obsession. The three of us—myself, First Second, and the book—got along so well together, that we've decided to get hitched for the above linked-to two-book deal.

This means that I'll be working with a great comics-savvy team and a whip-smart editor, but perhaps best of all, it means that when I travel to New York (which I'll be doing often since the graphic novel takes place in Manhattan) I get to visit their offices in the frickin' FLATIRON building:

How cool is that?

I'm redesigning my site right now and will be relaunching with a new blog soon, so look for many more details and sneak peaks of this massive new project in the near future.

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:17:01 GMT

Monday, February 9, 7:00pm:

See you there!

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

Saw Coraline at an industry screening last night in LA, and OMFG is it beautiful. I wanted to see it again as soon as the credits rolled. Everything worked: The story, the images, the music, and yes, the 3D. I wish I was a 9 year-old again so that I could have my brain completely re-wired by this movie; as it was, my neurons certainly got a vigorous workout. I've never seen or experienced anything quite like it and, most tellingly, I can't stop thinking about it.

[Edits: 1-Check out Ivy's MUCH more comprehensive write-up here. 2-Needless to say, we do know people involved in the production, but I would have loved it to pieces anyway. 3-Don't sit too close; the 3D and animation can be a little jarring from the front row; about 1/3 back ought to do it.]

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:12:02 GMT

Reminder...

THIS WEEK:
Miami, Florida:
The Miami Book Fair

Wednesday night, I'll be participating in a tribute panel to Will Eisner and then on Saturday afternoon, I'll be presenting a lecture on comics trends.

Check out the Comix Galaxy listings here:

See you there!

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:42:05 GMT

Reminder...

TONIGHT, Thursday, November 6, 7:00 pm:
The Bronx, New York:
Manhattan College
(Yes, Manhattan College is in The Bronx -- go figure.)

And next week:

November 12-15:
Miami, Florida
The Miami Book Fair

Meanwhile, check out this awesome 9-Jack-9 costume worn for Halloween by reader Andrew Vestal:

And yes, the awesome Lori Matsumoto took pix of Winter's costume too, and we hope to post those soon.

Oh yeah, and THANK YOU, America, for breaking the ultimate barrier of prejudice in electoral politics: You actually elected the smart guy!

Also, I want to say how incredibly proud I am of Ivy for working her heart out to defeat the pointless and hateful Prop 8 here in California. We came very, very close, and I'm absolutely certain that when this kind of bigotry rears its ugly head again in the golden state, that a new generation will send it back to the stone age where it belongs. I love my wife and treasure our marriage MORE because she tried to extend that right to other loving couples and because we both witnessed such a union just last month. How anyone could think that their marriage could only thrive by denying such a gift to others is beyond me.

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:57:11 GMT

Sky as Alex from A Clockwork Orange

She was going to dress as the Joker and if asked who she was, she would have responded "a 2008 Comic-Con attendee" which was funny, but a bit too meta.

This is a bit meta too, though, since Chris Nolan and Heath Ledger were inspired by Alex -- a fact which Sky guessed all on her own. Reasons to be proud: Infinite.

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:47:40 GMT

Upcoming Events...

Saturday, October 18: All Over the World

24 Hour Comics Day!
18 years since the original. What a long, strange trip it's been... No specific event planned for me personally, 'cause I'm on a deadline, but in the spirit of the day, I'll put in a crapload of hours.

Friday, October 24: Bowling Green, Ohio

Bowling Green State University

Thursday, November 6: The Bronx, New York

Manhattan College

November 12-15: Miami, Florida

The Miami Book Fair
More Details soon.

And in Happier News...

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:46:01 GMT

Meet me in Buffalo!

Two great events taking place at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, under the auspices of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Libraries.

Friday, October 3, 7:00 pm: Lecture.

Saturday, October 4, 10-5pm: Workshop.

See you there.

---------

Next up:

October 24: Bowling Green, Ohio.

November 9-16: Miami Book Fair (my dates t.b.a.)

More listings soon...

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:04:39 GMT

My annotation of the brillig chart. I've seen other, more nakedly partisan versions, but I think this is pretty hard evidence. Just numbers and dates, and boy do they tell a story.

20 years of robbing our children vs. 8 years of sanity. Sincerely hoping for more of the latter and less of the former, regardless of who wins.

[Edit: Image updated to reflect this year's literally "off the chart" increases -- even before this week's bail out.]

Photo Meme

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:48:04 GMT

Take a picture of yourself right now.

Don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair...just take a picture.

Post that picture with NO editing. (Except maybe to get the image size down to something reasonable.)

Post these instructions with your picture.

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:14:59 GMT

Decatur, Georgia - Tuesday Night!

Sorry once again for the late notice.

I'll be speaking at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia tomorrow night. I'll try to post a little sooner next time. It's been a crazy month!

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:23:25 GMT

Aww. Leo liked the comic. ^__^
(minute 41:50)

My week is complete.

This Week in a Nutshell:

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:40:56 GMT

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:22:04 GMT

Surprise!

Actually, the surprise was on me and Google this morning. Apparently a few copies were shipped to Europe before the official launch date of this Wednesday. No harm done though.

Since it's creative commons, I'll probably serve up my own web-formatted version, but in the meantime, enjoy this scanned-in version of the comic I created for Google to announce their new browser, the gorgeous Google Chrome.

Baby's First Pull Quote

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:52:02 GMT

Nancy Duarte (of Duarte Design, the firm that designed Al Gore's famous slideshow seen in An Inconvenient Truth) has a great new book on presentation strategies:

...and Sky is featured in a two page spread (with a cool photo by Lori Matsumoto)!:

Sky has "...strong delivery skills, commanding stage presence, and a brilliant understanding of the format." I saw Nancy give a workshop in the Bay Area in January and she's a deep thinker on this subject, so that's quite an endorsement! Congratulations to our not-so-little girl on her first pull quote.

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 03:40:56 GMT

My Next Three Nights in New York!

Okay, late notice (sorry about that) but yes, I’m in New York City right now, getting ready for three events this week. They are:

Monday—Manhattan:
Talking about comics at The Learning Annex, 6:45-9:30 pm.

Tuesday—Manhattan:
Signing and chatting at Barnes and Noble Tribeca, 7:00pm.

Wednesday—Brooklyn:
Talking about Zot! and comics at the Brooklyn Central Library, 7:00 pm.

Spread the word, pick one (or more!), and I’ll hope to see you soon.

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:10:35 GMT

Special Offer: Print this flyer and bring it to the signing, and I'll say "hey, you printed my flyer!"