Patriotism

Well, I meant to post this comic on the fourth of July, but what with visiting D.C. (the capitol building is freakin' HUGE!) and working, it completely slipped my mind. But hey, July isn't over yet, and the flags are still out in Norwich, so here's my "American Pride" comic:



This is what America means to me.

Barefoot

It's summer, which means one very important thing: finding out what you can and can't do in flip-flops:

Below is a colored sketch of Esperanza and Lord Zoloft from "Unpleasant People." I'm toying with the idea of giving "Unpleasant People" its own website. Then I'll have some place to dump all my sketches of the characters! In the meantime:

Congratulations, graduations!

I feel like "Congraduations" should be a real word. Or "Congraduates". It just sums it all up this time of year. What I mean to say is, congrats to all the graduates from our beloved Center for Cartoon Studies! There's some crazy-good talent being unleashed upon the world, so look out!

In honor of the occasion, I'd like to present a comic today about the grace with which one accepts one's own diploma and the dignity that goes along with such a great accomplishment:
In other news, I've got all the material together for Brain Parts #3. I still need to do the layout and print, but here's the cover:

I discovered that drawing rotting flesh and exposed bone-parts is super fun!

Mouser Power!

So I had a totally Ninja Turtles moment at work at the restaurant a little while ago.


Unfortunately, denial didn't turn the dude into Baxter, or his wife into an army of Mousers, but it was a nice little daydream while it lasted.

Many continuing thanks to Jim Lawson for being my super-awesome thesis advisor!

More things at work...

Something else at work that makes me want to punch babies...

... over-sharing.

Also, here's a picture of some assassin-dude with a sniper rifle. It looked better before I inked and colored it, but I'm still practising.

Colored with markers and colored pencils.

Dracula has had enough.

Remember the good old days when vampires slept in coffins and sucked blood and were considered monsters? Me too.


I was going to sell prints of this at Boston Comic Con, but realized it looked a little sloppy in areas and didn't want to charge money for it without some digital touch-ups. So here's the un-pretty-fied version.

Boston Comic Con!

At left: me chillin' with some Ghostbusters from New Hampshire.

Got back from Boston yesterday! Matt Aucoin and I had a GREAT time at Boston Comic Con! Saw some familiar faces, saw a ton of new ones, and totally geeked out over some of my favorite artists. Matt and I stayed with our friend and classmate, the incomparable Jose Olivares, who even had a couple hours to table with us on Sunday morning! I feel his presence lent some much-needed credibility to our table!

Below: Matt Aucoin Chillin' with a couple girls I'm convinced represent the future of white-female-gangster-rappers



Matt and I were tabling nearby a couple artists that I've seen at MoCCA and SPX: Cathy Leamy and Joel Gill. I've traded with Cathy before and picked up her very informative guide to eco-friendly feminine hygiene.



I also picked up a pack of Joel's "Black Conservatives Trading Cards" (series 1). Included in each pack is four printed cards and a beautifully screen-printed card. I always kicked myself for not buying these at a previous convention, so I was thrilled to see them there! Can't wait to get the second series!

I got Darwyn Cooke and Frank Cho to sign some of their work for me. I was concerned that I might completely lose it and throw a bra at one of their heads, but thankfully, I kept my underwear and my composure. Well, maybe not my composure. I even got to see Frank Cho do a beautiful pencil drawing of Tigra battling ninjas in a train (done in less than 45 minutes!).


I picked up a sketchbook from Stan Sakai. He had about four or five different booklets he was selling for $10, with his autograph and a cool sketch of Usagi inside!



Also met Michael Dooney, of TMNT fame. He asked me how classmate and former Mirage Publishing intern Melissa Mendes was doing (she's good). I picked up his "Girls I Like" booklet with both black and white and full-color drawings, as well as his "TMNT Sketch Cards" book. He even sketched a couple turtles for me! He was incredibly nice and probably used to pacifying turtles geeks! He even told me I looked like a pinup lady!


I know it's an expectation at these big conventions to see a lot of people in badly-fitting costumes who clearly sleep in them, but for every one of those, there was one really great-looking, well-put-together costume. I thought I would find it a little intimidating, but it was a lot of fun to see all the different costumes and what people did with them. It added a lot of interest and color to the crowd! Plus, how often do I get to meet Sailor Mercury?



Update: Donald Jin, a nice fellow snapping photos at the convention, included a picture of me on his "Project 365" blog. I recommend you hop over there and check out his work, he takes amazing pictures!