October Offerings at the Center for Cartoon Studies:

Dead Man's Hand & Doonesbury Delights

As noted in the last two posts, I wrapped up my own six-page contribution to the upcoming CCS-spawned anthology Dead Man's Hand, brainchild of CCS seniors and the portmanteau's editorial team of Christopher Warren, Denis St. John, Matthew Young, Morgan Pielli and alumni Jon-Mikel Gates.

Chris (who did the production on my son Daniel's and my own "An Alphabet of Zombies" for the Accent UK Zombies anthology) scanned, cleaned up and prepped my story for publication last night, so I'll be posting a page or two of the story here starting tomorrow.

In the meantime,

here's the link to the Dead Man's Hand site -- updates and much, much more art to follow, as the team gets the book together for its SPX debut!

Here's the SPX link for more info on the convention itself --

-- and note that CCS once again has a table at SPX. SPX will be held in Bethesda, MD on October 12th and 13th; CCS will be at table W22, near the door and registration table. I won't be there (my convention days are over), but that's where you'll find Dead Man's Hand and many, many other great CCS student/artist/faculty creations!

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Garry Trudeau Visits CCS in October...

Garry Trudeau is coming to CCS later this month -- and here's the promised link with the particulars!

"Garry Trudeau, creator of the Pulitzer Prize winning political cartoon Doonesbury, is making a rare public appearance on behalf of The Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction Vermont on October 22, 2007..." Seating is limited, so if you're in the area and you're a Trudeau/Doonesbury fan, don't wait to snag your ticket ASAP!

Furthermore, Garry has generously donated a Doonesbury original (pictured above, from his recent spring 2007 'Vermont Town Meeting' sequence) to the CCS fundraising effort; CCS will be actively promoting this online auction beginning October 17th, but here's the current announcement:

EBAY AUCTION
ORIGINAL COMIC BY GARRY TRUDEAU

Original comic art donated by Mr. Trudeau to be auctioned online. The piece comes professionally framed in a black metal casing and white and black matting, compliments of Junction Frame Shop.

Size of original framed:
12 1/2" x 22 1/4"

DATE AUCTION BEGINS: Wednesday, October 17
DATE AUCTION CLOSES: Tuesday, October 23

A direct link will be posted here on October 17.
You will be able to click here to place your bid!

Ditto from here. More info as we get closer to Garry's visit...
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The leaves are changing color here in Vermont, and it's fall, folks. As an email from Jamaica (VT) amigo HomeyM notes this AM, "All leaves have embedded in them three pigments: chlorophyll (green colors), carotenoid (the yellow, orange and brown colors), and anthocyanins (red, blue and purple colors). During the long days of summer, chlorophyll is continuously being produced, resulting in green leaves. As the days get shorter and cooler, chlorophyll production slows and eventually ceases. When this occurs, the carotenoids and anthocyanins present in the leaves are unmasked and show their colors. The timing of these colors varies by elevation and by tree species." It all adds up to the trippy Vermont autumns I love, just by opening my eyes every single morning!

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That's all for today, have a terrific Tuesday... "Tenderfoot" peek tomorrow, and more!

Tenderfoot II

Completed final cleanup and some minor production on the "Tenderfoot" story in the CCS workshop basement this morning, and delivered the finished work to co-editor Morgan Pielli's mailbox at 10:30 AM.

I really enjoyed this new ramshackle method of working -- which I'll get into another time. Anyhoot, I'm gonna keep going. So, what's next: monster stories for my own amusement, and -- well, we'll see!

Have a great Monday...

MoCCA/CCS/Bissette Update:
Capsule: The First Dose and
Accent UK Zombies
Will Be at the CCS Table!

Friday evening update:
* Sean Morgan won't be at MoCCA, but his comics will!
* Accent UK's Zombies reach our shores, will be for sale at the CCS table!

Sean Morgan/Steve Bissette cover, Capsule: The First Dose (2007) at MoCCA!

Quick update:

* At the eleventh hour (actually, at about 5 PM), Sean Morgan's post-surgery recovery prompted him to reconsider the trip to NYC for the weekend -- but Sean's brand-new comic anthology Capsule: The First Dose will be available at the CCS table!

Note that I signed and did a sketch in every single copy -- $5 gets you the comic. If you're at MoCCA, please support Sean's efforts (and enjoy our jam story, "Area Stoned," in the bargain!).

Trippy highlight from Sean Morgan's "Area Stoned" in Capsule: The First Dose; cosmic collage craziness by SR Bissette

After a frantic week ending with Sean getting his book and himself packed up and ready to go, Sean made it with Matt Young, Robyn Chapman, Dennis Pacheco and Morgan Pielli to Marge's and my house -- just 15 minutes from White River Junction -- en route to NYC, and had to bail. Since there was still at least a five-hour drive tonight, three days of NYC and MoCCA mania, and a loooong bus ride home ahead, he was right to speak up and step down. Given the discomfort from yesterday's surgery on his hand and the need to keep his cast plugged into the circulating cooler to keep the swelling down, Sean wisely opted to forego MoCCA and stay home for the weekend. This is a real heartbreaker for him, folks, especially after the hard work prepping and completing his comic, but a smart move.

Still, his books are en route to MoCCA, and will be at the CCS table tomorrow. Check 'em out, buy a copy!

* Also just in, and I mean just in: The Accent UK box of the Zombies anthology arrived! They got here very late this afternoon -- just in time for Matt, Robyn, Dennis and Morgan to pick 'em up and include them in the CCS table lineup! Though quantities are limited, I signed the covers of what Matt, Robyn, Dennis and Morgan had room for in their car, so Zombies will be for sale at the CCS MoCCA table! Just $10 US, and be sure to ask Morgan to sign his story when you buy your copy!

Zombies is otherwise unavailable in the US -- features a new cover and inside front cover by yours truly, a 4-page "Alphabet of Zombies" by me and my son Daniel, fellow CCSer Blair Sterrett's two "The Sweetest of Dreams" tales and Morgan Pielli's apocalyptic "Orion Star" -- and Morgan will be at the CCS table in person, with his comics too (ask for "No!" or the anthology featuring "No!").
Pick up your copy of Zombies, while you can!

In fact, buy Zombies and Sean's Capsule as companion volumes -- Capsule features "He Is Risen," Sean's story that was too controversial for inclusion in Zombies!

Signed copies of Zombies will be for sale at the CCS table -- first and only US venue for this stellar Accent UK book!

More news, interviews, and MoCCA/CCS art and ballyhoo tomorrow AM. See you here!

We're Not Quite Done Yet, and Already We're Nostalgic:
The Infection of Time, Or,
A Sunday Morning Peek at
Joe Lambert's CCS Photos --

As I spend the weekend pouring over an incredible array of final thesis projects from the Center for Cartoon Studies seniors and gifts of final projects from most of the CCS freshmen (soon to be seniors!), I'm moved to steer you to

Joe Lambert's pix of the May 2nd CCS Drawing Workshop session in my new backyard,

which was immediately followed that very afternoon with a drawing session from this miniature city we had constructed the week before -- a whirlwind of activity Joe has also documented via pix (scroll down to Joe's "Box City" photo album posting).

Left: Morgan Piellizilla. Hey, we still have to 'Godzilla' the city, guys and gal!

All of Joe's pix illuminate this old Myrant post on a recent Drawing Workshop exercise, if you want more context --

-- and although we're only two days past the completion of final projects (for both classes), I'm already revisiting and working on revised Drawing Workshop syllabus outlines to streamline and improve the whole two-semester effort for next year. Sigh. So little time, so much to draw and teach.

Joe's blog is always worth a visit, currently opening with photos from the CCS trip to Montreal (including a peek inside the Drawn & Quarterly offices, for those curious about that megalithic corporate universe) and other CCS activities. Thanks, Joe!

(More CCS in Montreal pix are here, compliments of fellow freshmen Penina Gal. Thanks, Penina!)

Here's a link to a venue for some of Joe's comics, too, which are -- well, excellent.

(Fair is fair: since I'm linking in thanks to Joe's sites, Penina's fine illos and comics creations are also visible here, and they're pretty damned good, too.)

Now, before I get into today's intensive reading, re-reading and note-taking from the thesis projects, I'm off to the flea market -- yep, it's that time of year.

Clear, sunny, but cold -- ah, flea market season in a new part of Vermont. What wonders await me?

Have a great Sunday, one and all --

Congrats to Mike Bleier!

First off, it's a special day in our household, as my stepson Mike, Marge's younger son (of two), is graduating from his electrician apprenticeship program today. It's technically The Vermont Registered Apprenticeship Program, under the Vermont Department of Labor's umbrella; Mike put his four years in with the Hartford Career & Technology Center (Hartford Electrical 4). He still has his exam in June ahead (to get his journeyman's license), but this is a great day.

We're off to Randolph, VT (coincidentally, not far from where Mike and his wife Mary were wed last summer) for the graduation later this morning, so, well, congrats to Michael Bleier!

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But it's the CCS student sites I have to share with you this morning -- this is the last of 'em I've got links to. I'll post a roundup and permanent link from this blog tomorrow!

First up,

Morgan Pielli dances paper clips and dinosaurs on his site, which you know rings the chambers of my heart and chimes in my brain.

Morgan's character and concept Dinosaur Jones is still in its formative stages, though there's this -- and more -- awaiting you at Morgan's online outpost!

Bryan Stone's comics, sketchbook images and much more malingers here, including his Frogherder strips

(of which the sample shown here is strip #364!) -- much to see, read, and enjoy on Bryan's site. It's about to undergo some revisions, so don't be surprised if you catch it mid face-change soon.

Christopher Warren -- aka Radical Warren -- has staked out this virtual turf as his own, with attitude!

Here's one of my current faves from Chris's site; he's an aggressive online comics creator, and there's also numerous links to other online comics sites from Chris's digs, which also offer some lively diversions.


(Chris did me a good turn by handling all the scanning and digital cleanup tasks on my contributions to the Accent UK Zombies anthology, so I owe him big time, despite the meager miserly paycheck he earned from yours truly on that gig -- hence his site being our CCS sendoff for Saturday. Enjoy!)

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Since my intro to Criswell yesterday only managed to provoke my compadres (nyuk, nyuk), I'll present today's unadorned, save to say -- uh, maybe Criswell got his year wrong on this one. We can only hope!:

Criswell Predicts!

American Tragedy 1980

I regret to predict an American tragedy on November 11, 1980! An instant newsflash from the White House will tell of the first suicide of an American president! This President will be popularly elected with much promise, but the Public will turn against him, and he will be the most hated official in all history. I predict that the suicide will take place in the lonely small hours of the morning. A shot will be heard, and upon investigating, his wife will find the sprawled body of her husband in his private office. A gentle rain will be falling, as will the tears of all Americans! The dead man did not fail us, we failed him!

Have a great Saturday AM, one and all!

Weekend Retreat:
Meet the CCSers!
(First in a Series)

First off, last night's opening of the Fine Toon Vt Cartoonists exhibition at the Helen Day Art Gallery
in Stowe, VT was a real treat (see yesterday's post for links, info). It's definitely the most expansive and
comprehensive collection of Green Mountain cartoonists to date, and the gallery has given the major
portion of their opulent spread to this selection of work. Don't miss this show!
More info, photos, etc.in the coming weeks, for sure.

I meant to post links to the various Center for Cartoon Studies student sites some time ago, but the vagaries of dial-up-only access in my prior Marlboro digs and the complications of the past couple of months (the move!) kept me from seeing to it.

With the permission of those listed, here's a snapshot of just some of the students cooking up a whole new generation's worth of trouble in the inky universe!

In no particular order, here's today's lineup:

SEE!

...the behemoth that wails
and beats its chest in the night,
wielding all that is and can be carved
from that which can only be called

Fresh-meat (freshman) Joe Lambert (aka Sleepy Joe) and his Amazing Electric Congtulabufabulon!

GASP!

...at all that can be found
beneath & beyond
the realm of that
which has been
spawned by

Ambulatory Andrew Arnold and his Stunning Kickapooflibejaba Ray!

SEE!

All that is both
Holy and Unholy,
tearing holes in the
very fabric of reality
with mere paper clips
and permutations
from the ashes of Pompeii,
erupting from

The Mortifying Prefabulations of Morgan Pielli!

WITNESS!

The Brain-Spew
that claims all that is
not its own as its own,
consuming the rubble of
the Box that Ate Everything
That the Bag Ate
and more, more, insatiably more
as YOU flee
the unslakeable
appetites that rule...

The ReDisorienting Universe of He-Known-As-Dane! (Martin, that is)

SEE!

Erupting from
unimaginable realms
of the Unspeakable
and Unspoken,
the Unseen
and Unheard,
the Irrepressible
and the
Irreplaceable...

That Which Can Only Be Created via the two-headed, four-limbed wonder known as Colleen Frakes & Jon-Mikel Gates!

More tomorrah,
including my movie viewing tips
(Pan's Labyrinth, etc.)
plus pix of the new Bissette digs
(the viewing room carpentry is done at last!)
... and more!