Dare we hope? And just in time for FunkyWatch May?

• I already knew I was going to tell you today about the launch of the Skin Horse Book 4 Kickstarter once I saw some late-night tweets on Friday about it going live over the weekend; as I believe this page has established, I likes me some Skin Horse. What I didn’t expect was to find myself quoted in the Kickstarter video. I gotta confess, even having been asked to provide quotes, blurbs, forwards, and the like a fair number of times, it’s a little thrill every time I see that somebody might actually care for my opinion-mongerings. Although, ahem.

  I shouldn’t get snarky, not when Jeffrey Wells and Shaenon Garrity¹ entertain me so wonderfully for free six days a week, when they offer up original art as a supporter reward², and when backers get the opportunity to attend a freakin’ TIKI PARTY at the tiki shack that Ms Garrity has had built in her backyard for the express purpose of gettin’ messed up on fruity drinks in mugs with faces on them. I’m pretty sure that no other webcomicker has ever allowed a prize of Come get drunk at my house which means you will know where I live, meaning that Ms Garrity is either slightly foolhardy, trusts absolutely in her fanbase, or has mysterious Funk Queen powers that protect her from all harm. I’m betting on that third one.

• Merch alert for those going to Phoenix Comicon this weekend: Andrew Hussie’s legion of devoted fans³ are about to discover the majesty that is the Chris Yates handmade puzzle line as a collection of GOD TIER BAFFLER!s is placed on sale and promptly sells out ten minutes later. If you make it past the Homestucks to the rest of the TopatoCo table, tell ‘em I said hi.
• Speaking of TopatoCo, KC Green won’t be there, presumably because he’s busy scripting new Regular Show comics in the wake of the success of issue #1. Let’s put this in perspective: the highest-selling comic of April 2013 had something like 132,000 copies sold, and that was Batman. Green has put a new comic, aimed at kids, at fully half the sales of the marquee book of the most-recognized character in the country. That never happens. Everybody feel good for KC, or Mr Green if you’re nasty.

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¹ Funk Queen of Everything That Will Survive When All East Of The San Andreas Drops Into The Atlantic.

² Now at the entirely more-appropriate US$100 backer level; previous efforts by Ms Garrity have criminally undervalued her originals.

³ Or Elite Shock Troops of the Forthcoming Purification, take your pick.

Are you ready for the weekend? I am. Let’s do some quick clean-up on the news and get outta here.

• They say LA is an unforgiving town, built around the entertainment industry, not kind to those who aren’t Botoxed, rich, and connected. So how to explain LA Weekly naming Jorge Cham to its annual list of the most interesting people in LA¹, a list which includes the likes of models, porn stars, fashion designers, athletes and actors? Oh, maybe because it also features the likes of George Takei and Bobak Ferdowsi, so there’s room in there for the geek-friendly. Cham’s journey from robots to cartoons to generalized high-ed boosting is a feel-good story, one which just might get him a table in the hot restaurants and clubs for a week or two.
• Speaking of LA, a quick fact on the upcoming Capture Creatures show at Gallery Nucleus; Frank Gibson has shared with us that if you’re lucky enough to snag one of the151 different paintings that Becky Dreistadt will have on display, it’ll set you back a thematically-appropriate US$151. For a five-by-seven (inches) original, that’s a damn bargain.
• If you have anything to do with writing about [web]comics, you should have an ironclad rule: When Dave Roman sends you announcement about a project he’s involved with, pay attention to that. In this case, Roman has teamed up with his Kids Comics Revolution podcasting partner (Jerzy Drozd, and not the one that makes bass guitars), his former partner in the heyday of the now-shuttered Nickelodeon magazine (Chris Duffy, and not the baseball player or the other baseball player)², and the Ann Arbor District Library to honor the best of all-ages comics for 2012:
  

  From now through June 23rd, 2013, kids vote online at http://www.kidscomicsrevolution.com or by filling out the paper ballot at the Toronto Comics Art Festival or the Kids Read Comics celebration. Voting will be filmed and posted online. Results will be announced June 23rd at a special ceremony during the Kids Read Comics celebration at the Ann Arbor District Library.

  Categories include four variations on Favorite Graphic Novel, two variations on Favorite Comic Book Series, Favorite Cartoonist/Author, and four categories not likely to make it to the Eisners: Cutest Character, Best Hair in Comics, Grossest Thing in Comics, and Special Award for Excellence in Drawing Delicious-Looking Food (I must admit I’m particularly interested in the results of those). Oh, yes, and there’s also Favorite Webcomic category, with nods given to:

  • Cucumber Quest by Gigi D.G.
  • Nemu*Nemu by Aurdra Furuichi and Scott Yoshinaga
  • Nedroid Picture Diary by Anthony Clark
  • Ellie on the Planet X by James Anderson
  • My Sister, the Freak by Dani Jones

  Strong slate, and similarly well thought out throughout the other categories. Well done, Messers Duffy, Drozd, Roman, and everybody at AADL, and here’s hoping that we see the Second Annual KCR! Awards become even bigger and more prestigious.

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¹ Which is not to say that we at Fleen think that Cham couldn’t succeed on LA’s traditional terms. Little nip here, a tuck there, he could headline a Bravo series about Real Engineers of Pasadena.

² While Chris Duffy doesn’t strike me as too uncommon a name, I would have been really surprised by the fact that there are two guys out there named Jerzy Drozd were it not for some other, equally-improbable repeats that I’m aware of.

There’s some really neat stuff for you today, kids. Let’s jump into it.

• More details on the Capture Creatures gallery show in June, which we teased two weeks back. First off, you may have noticed that said Creatures are appearing on the website at a furious pace, Becky Dreistadt having finished all 151 paintings some time ago; today’s installment is #121, meaning only 30 to go, meaning 17 creatures will still be unposted when the show/book pre-launch hits on 1 June:
  

  LA’s Gallery Nucleus will host the early book release and gallery show on June 1st at 7:00pm: all 151 creature paintings will be on display and available for purchase, along with a yet-to-be-announced resin ?gure, prints, and larger mystery pieces. Opening night features both Becky and Frank signing, as well as complementary drinks, snacks and secret musical guests; the show itself runs through June 23rd.

  That’s from a press release, so no link, but party details are at the Gallery Nucleus site. Unfortunately, the show was scheduled for a time when it was anticipated the book would be done but some delays hit and it’s not done. However, given the track record that Becky Dreistadt and Frank Gibson have on their books, not to mention the fact that it’s coming from the quality factory of Benign Kingdom¹, I’m not terribly concerned about anything other than the fact that I don’t already have the book in my hands right now.

  Also, Becky and Frank need to get one of their gallery shows to launch in New York already so I have a chance at purchasing paintings before they’re snapped up by other people; on the off chance that your favorite Creature isn’t snapped up by somebody else, chances are you can purchase it from Dreistadt’s artist page at Gallery Nucleus.

  In the meantime, Gibson was kind enough to share with Fleen readers an as-yet unseen Creature, Bechder, who may be spied at the top of the page. He’s all badgery, so I’m guessing he’s an Earth type, but with that smoke/steam coming from his mouth there might also be some Fire in his makeup. Am I doing this right? I never got into Pokémon so I’m new to all this lingo.

• Speaking of B9, it’s well known that lurking just behind the scenes is a tactical genius named George Rohac. As it happens, George² and I happened to be talking about ten days back under social circumstances; nothing formal, no notes taken, and we were having some excellent drinks, which is why I didn’t share with you the news he shared with me that night.

  However, Heidi Mac is all over the story today so you probably ought to know that George has left Oni Press (where he got a passel of webcomickers to do projects) for What Pumpkin Studios, aka Homestuck Intergalatic Headquarters. Just in case you were wondering how Andrew Hussie could conquer the internet even more than he already had, there’s your answer. Between WP and B9 and all the side advice that he hands out, George is practically synonymous with webcomic-related Kickstarts, with an estimated 30+ campaigns under his belt and (by my rough accounting) somewhere north of US$4.0 million in total funds raised.

• Two pieces of merch to point you towards, one real and one hypothetical. Firstly, let me point you towards the LympheDIVAs, which markets specialty clothing for survivors of breast cancer — a side effect of treatment can lead to swelling and chronic inflammation in the arms. There’s no treatment for lymphedema, but compression sleeves can help control the condition and help prevent it from progressing.

  Like a lot of medical clothing, compression sleeves tended to be uncomfortable and ugly, and there’s no reason to put up with that nonsense. Comfortable, fashionable sleeves and gauntlets are what LympheDIVAs set out to make, and the designs are visually stunning.

  They’ve just launched a new product family designs by mad pixelmancer R Stevens, with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network³ getting a portion of each sale of 8-Bit Owl, Pixel Hearts, Pixel Skulls, and Red Robot. It’s not easy to make a stretchy garment retain a blocky, pixel look when it can be pulled in various directions, but it appears that Stevens and LympheDIVAs have done so (not that I should have doubted — my Red Robot socks look great, even on my weirdly asymmetric feet). Here’s where I’d send you all to a store and tell you to buy, but I sincerely hope that you never need to.

  On the theoretical end of things, I think that Hurricane Erika simply must — must — make the smiley-face panties shown halfway down the latest entry⁴ at Oh Joy, Sex Toy [probably NSFW]. For those not willing to click the link, here’s a clip of the relevant panel [almost certainly SFW]. Just get the little Yay! speech balloon on the front and your sexytimes will get 37% sexier.

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¹ Unofficial motto: Makers of fine qualities since 2011.

² While the Fleen Manual of Style dictates that on second and subsequent references, individuals should be predominantly referred to by their family names, there are exceptions to every rule and George is one of them. It just doesn’t work to call him Rohac, or Mr Rohac, or even Éogeorge of the Riders of Rohac. He’s just George.

³ Pancreatic may be the most miserable, evil bastard in the cancer family, if I may be allowed a moment of unwarranted anthopomorphization. It has poor treatment options, fast progression, aggressive metastasizive tendencies, and it kills in amounts that even Red Robot #C-63 would find excessive. It’s not particularly linked to lymphedema, but if Stevens wants to take a chunk out of pancreatic cancer, I say more power to him; I hope he gives it a good curbstomping.

⁴ So to speak.

Readers of this page may recall that we at Fleen (which readers of this page will surely know is just a fancy-pants way of referring to me as there ain’t really anybody else ’round these parts) have participated in a peripheral way with the National Cartoonists Society’s annual division awards re: webcomics, and may also recall that the NCS gives out said awards during Memorial Day weekend (which I was privileged to attend last year).

What you might not recall is that this year, the NCS is doing something really neat in conjunction with Reubens Weekend that is pretty awesome. Given that said weekend is taking place in Pittsburgh, it’s a no-brainer that the NCS would team up with the home-town comics heavyweight, The Toonseum. More specifically, The Toonseum (in conjunction with San Francisco’s Cartoon Art Museum, also a favorite of this page) will be having an exhibition of original artwork by Reuben winners, nearly 70 years worth:

This is the first time in the organization’s history that original art from these legendary artists has been assembled in one exhibition. Rare works seldom seen by the public from artists such as Gary Larson of Far Side, Charles M. Schulz of Peanuts, and many more will be displayed.

The exhibit is part of a celebration of comic and cartoon arts as the National Cartoonists Society brings their annual conference to Pittsburgh for the first time.

A special VIP fundraising opening reception will take place on Thursday, May 23rd as part of a weekend-long celebration of the comic and cartoon arts. Information on the VIP event tickets can be found at http://comicvip.eventbrite.com/.VIP tickets also include reserved seating for panel discussions on Sunday, May 26th, a signed limited edition print, meet and greet, and much more!

For everybody else, The Toonseum will be turning its corner of Pittsburgh into a street party on the 900 block of Liberty Avenue on Sunday, 26 May, from noon to 5:00pm. Street fun is free, and the usual five dollar admission price gets you into The Toonseum for the exhibit (and signings with many, many artists), and twenty bucks will get you into panel discussions at the Bricolage Theater.

If you live anywhere near Pittsburgh, I cannot urge you strongly enough to try to take in this show. What the heck, it’s a long weekend, you can skip one afternoon of cookouts for a once-in-a-lifetime event like this. Sadly, I’ve got EMT duty that weekend (everybody’s got to do their turn on holidays), so you’ll have to tell me how it was.

I swear by all that I hold dear, some day I will make it to Chris Butcher’s little slice of early-May comics-related heaven. In the meantime, just look for the reports of anybody that was there and once again it appears to have been a success beyond the usual superlatives. There aren’t many situations where I take pronouncements like Best show ever at face value, but in the case of TCAF I can’t ignore the overwhelming consensus. Welcome home everybody that was in the Tee-Oh for the weekend, now get back to entertaining me for free.

• It’s never been the most reliable of updaters, Instant Classic, even going so far as to run an update with the helpful annotation Believe it or not, I have the next 4 or 5 comics drawn. Exciting times! and then not supplying the next strip for just about exactly a year. But irregular updates have never dissuaded me, and even those that are likely never coming back will cause me to peek in from time to time, just to make sure, if they’re good enough.

  And that’s the thing about Instant Classic — however much Brian Carroll may find life (or filmmaking) interrupting him, he’s always going to come back to the comic, because he’s still got story to share. Yesterday marked the first decade of telling that story, in fits, starts, always returning until it’s done. Here’s to as many stories as he has to tell, and however long they take to share.

• Readers of this page may be familiar with one MC Frontalot, official rapper of webcomics and all-around nerdcore badass. When he decided to make his latest official video, the question was what form it should take. Given that he’s commissioned half of webcomics to do art for his various albums, it was probably a no brainer to call upon the drawin’, comickin’, and animatin’ wonders, Carly Monardo (various art for Dr McNinja, coincidentally written and drawn by her husband) and Lauren Monardo Gramprey (BrainFood Comics, Perhapanauts, and coincidentally Carly’s twin sister).

  Said video went live last night, and you may now enjoy I’ll Form The Head [AV] (from 2011′s Solved) in all of its mid-’80s evoking glory. Seriously, if this doesn’t make you want to slip on some feetie pajamas and curl up in front of the TV with a big bowl of cereal, then I guess you weren’t born around 1978. Neither was I, but don’t judge me.

You know, just a thing, that’s all. In fact, this turn of events is going to be preoccupying me for the next couple of days, so apologies in advance if I’m not rushing here to post when I have celebration-related things going on.

I hope you’re all in as good a mood as I am. See you when I see you.

Vive L’alliance de la bande dessinée. Or more precisely, somebody please tell me where the very talented writers from Comics Alliance [link may not work much longer] end up, since their site (the only comics site I read regularly) got axed by parent company AOL. I really liked CA, I liked the writers, I liked their approach which appreciated comics in all its varied forms (not to mention the respect they gave to webcomics — do a search there for as long as the site is live on “Nedroid” say, or “Jess Fink”). They reveled in the most batshit insane¹ of comics, thought deeply about how comics tell their stories, poked fun at the comics they couldn’t stop reading and always somehow found happiness in a shared legacy of the world’s greatest heroes (and Aquaman).

The fact that those last three links lead to pieces written by the same guy should tell you something. I have no doubt that none of the CA staffers and stringers will have much trouble landing in their next writing gigs (and boy do I hope that they take the Eisner Award that they’re nominated for this year); in the meantime, if you haven’t already, maybe toss a thank you towards the staff of CA as they disperse (hopefully to coalesce together again — like Voltron, they are mightier together than in their constituent parts). And if it won’t get you fired, they’ve already received the ultimate accolade in a pop culture-saturated world: an angry tirade about their fate from a noted friend of comics [NSFW on account of naughty subtitles and oh yeah -- Hitler].

Nevertheless, there is always good news to be found, and little is more regarded as good news in these parts than a new project from Becky Dreistadt and Frank Gibson, this time a book launch party for the Capture Creatures collection. Those with long memories may recall that Capture Creatures launched at the beginning of 2012, with a goal of finishing the 151 painting series, a gallery show, and a book collection in the same year.

Along the way, other things intruded², and the completion of Capture Creatures pushed back to 2013. Good news: the painting are apparently done, since the gallery show will launch in LA on 1 June. And with the completion of the paintings comes the comprehensive book (including the creatures we haven’t seen on the site yet), details of which I am solemnly assured are nearly upon us. We at Fleen will bring you the details as soon as we can, and in the meantime, dibs on whichever creature might be based on the greyhound, if such a thing exists.

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¹ So to speak.

² Dreistadt did more than 300 (!) paintings last year, so I think we can cut her some slack.

You can tell how well a particular comics awards program meets the standard of “credibility” or “legitimacy” by how closely it matches my ballot. Okay, kidding, but face it — that’s how we all think; if we agree with the winners then it’s good and if we disagree then we can’t believe what idiots the jury/voters/whoever are. By this (admittedly solipsistic) standard, the 2013 Stumptown Comic Arts Awards were pretty damn good. Let’s take a rundown, shall we?

Of the eleven categories, it appears that eight come from the webcomicky world; granted, one of those is for Best Webcomic, which is pretty much guaranteed to represent our weird little community, so maybe it’s really closer to seven out of ten. A’course, Best Webcomic went to Evan Dahm for Vattu which was my choice, so yay.

The big winner of the night was undoubtedly Spike, taking Best Anthology for Smut Peddler (with a few dozen fellow contributors) and Best Small Press for Poorcraft (with Diana Nock). Carla Speed McNeil has been running Finder as a webcomic for a while now, and the reissue of Talisman saw her recognized as Best Cartoonist and Best Leterer.

Kory Bing’s Skin Deep (specifically the chapter entitled Exchanges¹) led to gongs for Best Colorist and Best New Talent². The Reader’s Choice Award went to EK Weaver for The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal.

If all that weren’t cool enough, the design of the awards themselves is pretty neat: a plaque with a little big-eyed monster-critter, as seen in photos shared by Ms Bing, Mr Dahm, and Ms Spike. It’s a fun touch³, one that says You don’t need to take this too seriously, let’s all just have fun now, which is exactly how we should approach comics.

Fleen congratulates all the winners, and all the voters for having such good taste (defined, of course, as liking the same things that we at Fleen like). Now if only somebody could talk to the [insert name of your least favorite award for anything here] voters, then we’d be set.

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¹ On the web, Exchanges dates from 2009, but it’s recently made it to print.

² In another case of laboring long before finally breaking out as a “new” talent, Bing’s Skin Deep has been updating since late 2006.

³ Possibly not as fun as the brick that forms the Ignatz Award, but with less chance of being seized by security prior to your flight home.

Five Fs worth of alliteration? Might be a personal record. Also, Fleen personnel upgraded WordPress and plug-ins in response to the current exploit going around, so let us know if anything is behaving oddly.

• I’m assuming you’ve seen this first piece already, but just in case: a scammer or scammers unknown are lifting Kickstarter campaigns wholesale (straight down to text and video) and reproducing them on IndieGoGo so as to rake in money by piggybacking on legitimate campaigns. Kudos to Chris Sims at Comics Alliance for the full story¹, which has grown by at least one more attempt in the time since his story went up.

Conventions! Half of [web]comics is traveling to one show or another. If you’re in transit and prepping up your exhibit or alley space, :01 Books has some handy tabling tips that even veteran pros could stand to give a quick-once over. So where can you see these people? Depends on where you go (and names are in no particular order, and likely to be missing names that really should be there).

• Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland, Oregon typically shoots for an indy-/smaller press feel, though there are plenty of big names coming to town. Webcomickers and similar types you may see there will include Bill Mudron, Boulet, Spike (no doubt with copies of the Too Hot For Gumroad Smut Peddler in hand), Diana Nock, Dylan Meconis, Emi Lenox, “Hurricane” Erika Moen (debuting her new, weekly webcomic tomorrow!), Evan Dahm, Faith Erin Hicks, Hope Larson (with her brand new Who Is AC?), James Kochalka, Jenn Manley Lee, Kel McDonald, Kory Bing, Mac Schubert, Matt Bors, Phil Foglio, Rembrand Le Compte, and the suspiciously named Tyrell Cannon, who has a comic called “Gary” what the hell, people.
• Meanwhile, the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo in Calgary, Alberta will see a somewhat more mainstream crowd, but has proven to be a lucrative show in the past for webbish types like the Blind Ferret crew, Sam Logan, Joel Watson, Danielle Corsetto, Jennie Breeden, a TopatoCo contingent (including Jeph Jacques, KC Green, and Meredith Gran), Alina Pete, and Jim Zub.
• Finally, C2E2 in Chicago, Illinois hasn’t really gained traction with the webcomics crowd (one indicator: Spike apparently opted to incur flight, shipping, and hotel costs for Stumptown rather than stay home in Chicago for this weekend), but you’ll still find Ramón Pérez, Chris Giarusso, the Cyanide & Happiness clade, Ed Brisson, Mike Isenberg, Oliver Mertz, and Daniel Lapham, Katie Cook, and BOOM! Studios (although it appears none of the creators from their Adventure Time or Regular Show projects).

Superfans may wish to note that it is probably just possible to hit all three shows this weekend. This is not a request or a recommendation, just an observation.

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¹ Also for FunkyWatch, which allows me to keep a weather eye on the most miserablist strips in history without having to read them myself. I think that falls clearly into the category of taking one for the team.

Warning: we’re starting today with a link to 2000-odd words that you should read in its entirety, so make sure you set a little time aside. To help make up for it, I’ll try to be brief.

• Shaenon Garrity, Funk and Tiki Queen of All She Surveys, looks back a dozen years to the early days of Colonel Joey’s involvement in webcomics, marking the recent passing-on of the Modern Tales family. It’s really nice remembrance from one who was there¹, and startling in the realization how many of the people that Manley gathered around himself a dozen years ago have gone on to be influential and successful. Give it a read and maybe nod in the general direction of Kentucky, as we may never know how much that nudge given by Manley contributed to those creators staying in the game.
• It’s been going on three years since Brad Guigar³ ran a workshop on webcomickin’ at New York Comic Con 2010 (partnered up with the redoubtable Scott Kurtz), to overwhelmingly positive reviews. I’d been wondering why Guigar hadn’t offered such a bootcamp (as he termed it, and can I say that the mental image of Guigar in a Smokey The Bear hat screaming at rookie webcomickers to drop and give him a punchline is awesome) again, when lo and behold he announced another one, coinciding with the first full day of Philadelphia Comic Con:
  

  Brad will present a lecture on the art and commerce of webcomics and then take their class through a collegiate-level critique of their work.

  Cost of attendance is $29.99 for Webcomics.com members who would like their work critiqued.(Members of Webcomics.com are eligible for a special discount.)

  Be prepared to take and offer frank, constructive criticism. Each participant will receive a printed packet with tips, advice and comments directed specifically on how they can improve their work. Everyone is welcomed to attend the panel and join the discussion, but only Bootcamp participants will have their work discussed specifically.

  Philadelphia Comic Con (formerly known as Megan Fox Tits Wolverine World Philly) will take place Thursday 30 May – Sunday 2 June at the Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA; the Webcomics Bootcamp will take place from 5:00-6:30pm on Friday, 31 May, room TBA.

• Next weekend is going to be a busy one for [web]comickers, at least for those between the 45° and 59° northerly latitudes. From the southwest to the northeast, there will be events going down in Portland, Calgary, and Stockholm, any one of which may fill you with delight and wonder at the comics arts, but only one of which will feature Rene Engström, who tweets:
  

  I’ll be speaking at a panel on webcomics at Stockholm’s International Comic Festival on Saturday the 27th of April between 4 and 5 pm at Bibliotek Plattan!

  The Bibliotek Plattan, or Plattan Library, is part of the Kulturhuset complex at the Sergels Torg, which is the most central public square in the city. Judging from the site plan [PDF], you’ll want to head to the basement once you get there. Tell Rene I said hi, and see if you can get her to show you a sneak peek of The Venerable Leaf.

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¹ I’ve long since grown accustomed to consuming Garrity’s writing in four-panel chunks, and it always surprises me how wonderfully she writes when she’s not constrained by the limit of a few dozen words. It shouldn’t not with all the forgotten manga she’s so lovingly described², or her contribution to the Machine of Death [MP3] anthology.

² She is entirely responsible for me devouring (ha, ha) the 26-volume run of Yakitate!! Japan, the insane fight manga to end all insane fight manga, where by “fight” one should read “competitive bread baking”.

³ He’s dreamy.