POST - CAKE

From a room with a great view in the Windy City.

some more pictures + the comics reporter round up + john p.'s

It. Was. Great.

I'm incredibly proud to have been part of this convention in its very first year - while I've heard reports from different 'toonists and publishers of less-than-astounding sales, mine were enough to at least fund my 'stimulation of the local economy' (read: BUYING COMICS FROM EVERYBODY) and it was a fantastic time in a fantastic town. And that line-up of exhibitors! UFF-DA, as my people say.

We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to the organizers, Neil, Grace, Edie, Max, and Jeff. I'll go every single year.

 Nate Beaty came by and snapped the picture below while Grace worked Ms. Park's table and I lurked off to the side (I guess I do that a lot?) and Grace rejoined with, "What the hell, man? I'm not Laura Park!"

credit: natebeaty

(SWAG PICTURES AFTER I UNPACK IN THE MOONY CITY.)

Summer, 2012

dec. 1990.  i was probably always doomed. my first word was 'batman'.

Well. It's officially been one year out from graduating. I don't feel like it has been, and that it's been five years out all at the same time.

I miss Minneapolis sunrises, though. 

This summer is shaping up to be pretty busy, at least this first month of it. CAKE is just a little over a month away, and I still have books to print, for Sea Change. Lots of books to print, collate, and bind. It's going to be a little crazy. Probably a lot of pictures of me up to my elbows in rubber black ink and desperation to come. But it looks like it's going to be an extremely fun time and the start of another great convention.

I've applied for the last round of Xeric grants. News will come in June, as I'm leaving for Chicago. 

Maisie James (AB Dick 360 printing press extraordinare) is also moving to Seward, in south Minneapolis, sometime this summer. She's going to Amaya's garage and our fledgling, teeny print shop, working-titled 'Milkshake'.  

Huh. That's a lot of 'm's, I just realized... (for anyone interested, here's her "handsy" previous owner looking dorky with her)

I'll turn 24 this August, too. 

And maybe get back to where I belong, too. 

here's to a productive summer.

CAKE!

The good news came in this morning: I'm going to CAKE in June!

Or, the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo, run by Quimby's own Neil Brideau.

Doubly exciting is that it'll be my first official trip to Chicago - being stuck on a bus full of middle-schoolers in the eight grade in traffic on the way through Chicago doesn't exactly count.

In the absence of another Minneapolis Indie Expo this cartooning year, I'm very, very happy to see another Midwest indie get-together forming due to the efforts of a few very enthusiastic people, and very grateful to the panel of many different artists who decided to give me a shot at representing my neck of the woods in the Windy City and choosing me as an exhibitor. I think it's going to be a great time for all involved, and hey, I'll get to see Quimby's for the first time, too!

I'll have copies of Dirty Van #1, Sea Change, and hopefully some more small minis of shorter stories to fill that space I've been generously afforded. I'd planned to fire Maisie up once it got warm enough, anyway, and now I've just got that extra incentive. YEAH.

If anybody's interested and/or in the Chicago area, they could ALWAYS use volunteer power, and people to come and mill about, too.