Double Think on Amazon

Double Think, the awesome anthology work masterminded by Matt Aucoin, is now available on Amazon! 

Includes contributions by the very-talented Denis St. John, Kevin Kilgore and David Yoder, and of course, Matt himself.

Snap it up to read the first chapter of The Gabriellas, written by Matt, illustrated by yours truly (who also drew the cover , thankyouverymuch).

It features PUNCHY-ACTION!!

...as well as THOUGHTFUL CONVERSATION-ACTION and later on, MONSTER-WHOPPING ACTION!!

So check it out!

MBTMI

So, I finally joined tumblr. Mostly to look at gifs of cats being jerks and red pandas being red pandas. 

I'm also making an effort to turn the time I spend on public transportation (at least 2 hours a day, five days a week) into something other than wasted time. It's called MBTMI. 

So I've been taking photos on my phone of places I pass on the train, and making drawings of them. With the weather being what it is (and with the MBTA being what it its...) I'm also posting some bitchy little sketch-comics about being cold and public transportation sucking. 

So here's some building sketches, some bitchy winter comics and a photo I took from inside a train. 

Enjoy.

The Flash

A quick, sketchy impression of a recent episode of "The Flash" on the CW:

Man Bags: a helpful visual guide

Accessorizing.

Hipsters vs. Cartoonists

Know the difference. It could save your life. 

Some masked-hero-types, an update of the top-hatted ladies last seen in this post.

Distribution

Full view recommended: 

Checking out my online distribution options. Electing to just sell this stuff myself.

Mice

Circle of life, brah.

War Stories

More dispatches from my years working at the front desk at a fancy gym (we weren't supposed to use the word "gym". We had to call it a "fitness center")

For the record, I recorded this conversation pretty much word-for-word...

...because god knows that a male who lives in a mansion in Hollywood would know so much more about war than a female who lives in a mansion in Hollywood.


...and female soldiers? Pretty sure that's just a myth.

Quick Summer Throwback

What... what's THIS?! TWO blog posts in one month? Have I gone mad?

Weeeeell, this little bit of holly-bitches-about-dumb-clothes has been sitting on my desktop for a little while and it's cold enough that people are going to forget what I'm talking about if I wait any longer to post it.

 

These are just feelings I had to get onto paper so it didn't bother me anymore. 

MICE 2012

Oooooooh damn, how long has it been since my last blog post? A long time. I don't even want to look. Oh god. Too long.

Here's another Star Trek: Voyager comic to prove I haven't been slacking:

The Borg Queen has SUCH a villain-crush on Janeway!

Well, I'm still alive. Since my last blog post I've finished Unpleasant People #4 ($3 plus shipping), put together Brain Parts #3 ($1 plus shipping), moved to a new apartment, attended the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (aka MICE) for the first time and been off-and-on scripting this webcomic idea of mine mentioned in my last post. So, it's not like I haven't been doing anything. I just haven't been sharing it with the internet.

Well, here's the fruit of my labors:

 

 If you'd like to order either of these books, or any of my other zines or comics, or get a full price list of what I'm selling, email me at holly_foltz@yahoo.com

The zombie-waiter cover of Brain Parts #3 is my favorite Brain Parts cover I've done so far. I'm also proud of the Unpleasant People cover. It's a transparency printed with the title and cover image, over a wallpaper sample, so each issue is different. 

 

And here's some of the great stuff I scored at MICE (which represents only a fraction of the kickass art and comics available there. I had to limit myself as, after this last move, I realized I just have no room for more comics).

 

Row 1: "Thrift Store Batman", can't find the info for the hilarious person who traded this with me, "The Plot" numbers 1 and 2 by Neil Brideau 

Row 2: "Strange New Worlds", a Star Trek fanzine edited by the talented Denis St. John, featuring two one-pagers by yours truly, thenkyouvurrymuch, "Klown from the Moon: A Killer Klown Survival Guide" by S.R. Bissette, Denis St. John and Mike Crosier, "The Alfa Bravo Charlies" by Anna Jo Beck, "The Littlest Elder God" by Nathan Kitler

Row 3: "Today is a Good Day to Dine" by Joey Peters, "Darkfull" by Roho and Jamie Hibdon, "Space for Rent in Latveria" by Swamp Thing and Maggie Siegel-Berele

Chad Sell had a wide range of work at his table. The standout work was his digital portraits of the queens from "RuPaul's Drag Race", which he was selling as large and small prints and in booklets ("Chad Sell does 30 Queens"). He also had some great comics, both of the kid-friendly variety ("Kittybunny: the Bag Grab") and of the drunken-superheroin variety ("Fool Girl: of Monkeys and Masks"). It was great to meet him and check his work out!

 

 Joel Gill, a local fellow and art professor who does comics and zines both entertaining and educational (often at the same time!) was sold out of the Black Conservative Trading Card (series 2) packs when I got to his table, but I picked up a printed card of them. They have hilarious quotes and "Abilities & Powers" on the back! Can't wait for series 3!

Jeff Lok, a friend from Center for Cartoon Studies, was tabling with Jose-Luis Olivares and myself and I got to trade with him for two of his great comics ("The Gag Rag #2" and "Oh Babies")! They lure you with the familiarity of the style of early animation (such as Betty Boop and the early years of Loony Toons) only to punch you in the gut with violence and tragedy. Very visceral, very funny and definitely not for the sensitive!

I was pleasantly surprised to see my pal Kenan Rubenstein there, who is responsible for some of the most thoughtful and beautiful comics I've seen at a convention. He was selling his gorgeous new book, "Last Train to Old Town: Chapter 1", hand-made, perfect-bound, full-color. All of his comics have a unique "look" to them (unusual sizes, shapes, binding, etc) and this one is no exception. The ending makes you eager to read more, and I can't wait for the next issue.

 

  

So, that was MICE. A great show, can't wait for next year! Time to dive into Unpleasant People #5! Stay tuned!

Some Pleasant, and Unpleasant, People

First off, I know this is kinda old news, but after a wait that seemed like eternity, "Avatar: Legend of Korra" (sequel to the masterful animated series "Avatar: The Last Airbender") is finally here! It seems that perhaps the animation isn't quite as smooth as "The Last Airbender", but maybe it's because I was so dazzled and hadn't seen anything like it before. I sort of miss the whole journey aspect of the first series, too, but I love this one to pieces anyway, and I'm so impressed with the world-building. Again, these people did all their homework and created a three-dimensional, complete world and populated it with engaging, well-rounded characters. Anyhoo, this was my reaction:

In the me-centric news department: I finally finished the pencils for "Unpleasant People #4".
I've started inking it (starting with the lettering and panel borders) and hopefully it won't take too long. A big shout-out to my pals Mo Oh, Matt Aucoin, Jose Luis Olivares and Denis St. John who gave me their feedback and helped me present a more polished comic. So here's a couple portraits of the character Magda. A lot of issue 4 is about her back story. I was going to save the pencil sketch to put in the comic at the end, but Magda's head is so frikkin' big, I'm just going to draw something else.

 

 

As for stuff I'm watching that inspires me: I've been having "RuPaul's Drag Race" marathons. In the first season I was completely taken with Pandora Boxx. She was funny, intelligent and beautiful both in and out of drag. She was absolutely enchanting for the whole competition. 

Her nose is a little too big in the left-hand picture. In the right, she's a space princess gone rogue. And that's that.

the ULTRA UPDATE!

Okay, so I have good excuses this time for the lack of blog updates over the past few weeks! April was crazy! It felt like everything that could possibly happen to me, happened to me in April: did my taxes, got really sick, juggled two jobs for a little while before switching and had two conventions in two weeks! April had its ups and downs, but I'm glad it's May now. I've decided to take it easy this month. I'm also getting close to finishing the pencils for "Unpleasant People" #4. Just a couple pages left. I want to go to the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo in the fall and I want to have two new books by then (the aforementioned "Unpleasant People" and another issue of "Brain Parts").

Speaking of conventions, I had a great time at the Boston Comic Con and the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival in NYC.

At the Boston Comic Con I tabled with my good pals Matt Aucoin and Jose Luis Olivares. We had a great time and even put together a little anthology called "School Pencil" the night before the con. It was a combination of one-page works from all of us, plus some jam comics. Matt drew the fabulous cover. It's a pretty awesome cover. I don't want to jinx it, but odds are, there will be a "School Pencil" #2.

Some of my favorite costumes from the con here in Boston: Starfleet, of course, I nearly shit myself when I saw a "Stargate" costume (first time I've seen one at a con), also the first time I've seen Carl Sagan cosplay (apparently not a lot of people were recognizing him. For shame, science fans!), I liked that this Harley Quinn was faithful to her costume in the comics and show (I'd seen enough interpretations), the Keymaster is always a hit, where else do you see Indiana Jones face off against Lady Deathstrike, and I loved these Doctor Who ladies (does this mean the Tardis is also the companion?).

A nice fellow named Rich Johnston stopped by the table to chat and shared some fruit snacks with me. If I had known at the time that he was a journalist, I would have tried to act more intelligent. But he did end up mentioning Matt, Jose and myself, as well as some other great exhibitors in an article he wrote about how great Boston Comic Con is. And it certainly was great.


Some of the great stuff I picked up at Boston Comic Con: "A Daley Dose of Monsters" by Rich Daley, "Avra Kedabra Vol. 1" by Elizabeth Neronski, "The Stuff of Legend, Book 2: The Jungle" by Mike Raicht, Brian Smith and Charles Paul Wilson III, "Caroline's Catalog" by E. J. Barnes, "Geraniums & Bacon #6" by Cathy Leamy, "Kristilyn's Burlesque Sketchbook Vol. 1" by Kristilyn, "The Superhighs" by Dani Marie and Jessica Vitali, "A Conversation about Spiders" by Aya Rothwell, "It's A Maglorificent Monday" by Andy Wong, "Inky Stories" by Dave Marshall, "The Underburbs #1" by Joe Haley and T. J. Dort, "Paul and the Reveres Issue 1" by Tina Pratt

MoCCA was a blast, too! Got to stay with my good pals Katherine Roy and Tim Stout (also alumni of the Center for Cartoon Studies). I also got to see my pal Kenan Rubenstein and pick up one of his great teeny comics. If you haven't checked out his shit, you should check out his shit.

A sampling of the great stuff I picked up at MoCCA: "Yasha Lizard" by Kristina Stipetic, "The Island of Doctor Moreau" and "Pugs on Drugs" by Kat Fajardo, "Rat Bastard Part 1" by Cliff Galbraith, "Amelia Part 5" by Denis St. John, "What's Normal Anyway?" by Morgan Boecher, "9 P.M." by Melanie Gillman,  "Franz Kafka's Poseidon" by Jarod Rosello, "Nothing is Private" and "El Diablo" by Luis Enrique Echavarria Uribe, "On the Beach" by Kenan Rubenstein

And since I feel bad that I've been neglecting my blog for so long, here's another comic to close out this post:

I can't stop with the Illuminati jokes!

Good Hair Days

So, people seem to enjoy my little installments of "Great Moments in Terrible Facial Hair" (at least, that's what I tell myself). But why should facial hair get all the props? There's plenty of great moments in non-facial hair, too! Like this little gem. I'm not sure how she got it that way, but she rocked it like a pro!

Another Work Comic

There is very little embellishment in the below comic. This is pretty much exactly how it happened.

From my last job, in New Hampshire.

Had a little scanning party this evening with enough material complete for another few weeks of blog updates. I drew this comic at a bigger size than I do normally. Didn't think about how small my scanner is. In the end, I had to essentially scan each panel separately and puzzle them together using the most anti-intuitive graphics program I've ever touched (no disrespect to the Linux crowd, I totally dig Ubuntu, but Gimp is a horrible thing that should be destroyed with fire. Unfortunately, I'm too poor to buy Photoshop right now, so I have no alternative).

Sorry, had to get that off my chest.

In case you were wondering...

And in honor of Valentine's Day I present...

Something that has absolutely nothing to do with Valentine's Day.
And here's a glimpse of what I'm working on right now: Unpleasant People #4. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, it's a narrative humor series about the trials and tribulations of a fantasy villain, his scantily-clad second-in-command and, of course, his long-suffering secretary. Issues 1-3 are available to buy (shoot me an email, holly_foltz@yahoo.com or come to the Boston Comic Con or MoCCA where I'll be selling in April).

My thumbnails tend to be very messy. Kudos if you can read the dialogue.

This week's post is done, I'll go back to stuffing my face with chocolate while watching Netflix with my cat.

You think I'm joking?