friday robots

This week's Friday Robots are dedicated to Biosphere 2, located just north of Tucson, Arizona.

Built on a whim by a billionaire, Biosphere 2's original mission was to see if people could live inside the glass structure for prolonged periods of time.  B2 could have been the model for future lunar or Mars bases.  Unfortunately, one of the Biospherians lost a finger and the rest ran out of oxygen before the mission was completed.  Our dream of life on Moon Base 1 remains out of reach.

I also heard there was a giant octopus that snuck into B2's ocean and ate all the fish.  That there is a giant octopus living in the Arizona desert pleases me beyond measure.

Biosphere 2 remains active, and is now being leased for the sum of $100 per year by the thrifty University of Arizona for scientific research.

Happy Friday everybody, and beware sneaky octopi.

tattoos i almost got

All tattoos would have gone on my forehead, unless otherwise noted.

Eddie Vedder riding an eagle
The album cover (gatefold) to Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy

Abraham Lincoln slam dunking over LeBron James
Art Garfunkel's hair
Manet's Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe
Flying Mario

An ad for Jack Furrier's Western Tire Center (me & my car's best friend - yeah!)
I think that about covers it.

friday robots

Here we have a team of superhero robots, as evidenced by their matching outfits and newsprint background.  In a world of mayhem, robots may be the only ones capable of saving us from ourselves.

As a side note, these robots have been known to occasionally turn bandit and rob passing travelers of all their money.  Superheroes gotta eat.

O

Scenic Byways is now in the esteemed company of The Sound and The Fury, East of Eden, and The Bluest Eye! 

Oprah Winfrey yanked a copy of Scenic Byways out from a pile of memoirs by twenty-year-old first-time authors and chose to elevate it to the status of National Treasure.  Thanks, Oprah!

You can buy Scenic Byways here.  Unfortunately I've run out of O Book Club stickers, but I will sign your copy if you ask.

stumptown 2011

Last weekend I exhibited at the Stumptown Comics Fest right here in Portland.

Thanks to all the fine folks who stopped by table C-13 1/2 to chat or buy books.  This being my third year as exhibitor, I saw some familiar faces which of course expanded my ego to an embarrassing size.  If this is a taste of fame, I'm going to need a bigger skull.


Where would I be without my convention comrades?  Kenan, Neil, Reid, and Matt all made the show feel like a weekend-long hangout.  The highlight of the show was a jam comic that we all drew for Matt's birthday.  Not only did we each draw a page, but we got such luminaries as Farel Dalrymple and Brandon Graham to contribute.  It might be the best comic about a guy who gets locked out of his car and falls asleep, ever.

I met Portland mayor Sam Adams, who was wearing a faded flannel Columbia shirt - very appropriate, as Columbia Sportswear is proudly located here.  He neglected to buy any of my books, which means he has lost my vote next time.  Just kidding!  Forcing a politician to buy something in exchange for a vote is probably illegal.

Scenic Byways continues to sell, climbing up the charts all the way to number 4,465,987,098.  If you missed your chance to pick it up at the Oregon Convention Center, it's still available online.

Thanks also for all the trades!  I've yet to begin my reading from Stumptown and MoCCA, but the pile of comics beckons me and I dare not resist much longer.

My next convention is none other than the San Diego Comic Con in July, where I hope to get my book into the dainty yet masculine hands of John Lasseter.

friday robots

Today's robots are brought to you by the evening sky, which is happening later and later in the day to those of us in the northern hemisphere.

May these bright northern light robots bring you weekend joy, but always remember to duck if you see them coming for you.  Joy can so quickly turn to sorrow.

MoCCA whoa

MoCCA was held last weekend at The Armory.  I had a blast in New York!

The Armory is apparently as famous for military history as it is for hosting art shows.  Who would've thought the two worlds could coexist in harmony?  This may be the only comic convention in which you can meet Ruben Bolling and get recruited for the army.

Kenan (creator of the Foldy Comic) and I shared a table.  In a bit of bi-coastal symmetry, we will also share a table at this weekend's Stumptown Comics Fest.

Kenan lives in Brooklyn.  I live in Portland.  We both have foxy wives and black fluffy cats.  We get along.

MoCCA was my first East Coast comics show, and it was great meeting so many new people, cartoonists and readers alike.

Of course, no convention would be complete without a Longstreth, and this show had two!  Alec was there selling Phase 7, and his sister Galen ventured into the city on Saturday to promote her fantastic children's book, Yes, Let's.  A group of us, including my Portland cartoonist brothers Reid and Matt, got some delicious Indian food at the end of the day.

One highlight of this trip was being able to finally see why everybody in New York lives in Brooklyn.  A group of us cartoonists (including the esteemed Reid and Matt), as well as Kenan's life-partner, foldy comics folder, and internationally-feared lawyer Cate, ate at a Polish restaurant Sunday night.  Ah, perogies.

Thanks for all the trades, fellow exhibitors!  I have a huge pile of new comics to read, a weekend of experiences to remember always, and a song in my heart.  What is that song, you ask?  Is it a song written by one of New York City's more famous residents?

Nah. It's a bit more obscure than Johnny Rotten.

friday robots

I'm in New York, but Friday Robots appear as scheduled:

These robots got stacked on top of each other in an almost reverse pyramid.  That happens sometimes.

Have a great weekend everybody!

dancing with jack ketch second printing

I didn't want last week's big announcement of Scenic Byways to crowd out the equally exciting news that my pirate story, Dancing With Jack Ketch, is now available again!

Now in its second print, Dancing With Jack Ketch tells the story of Jackson Donfaire, an escaped slave who eventually becomes a pirate captain.

I was particularly pleased to have the opportunity to fix up Jack Ketch.  It was only my second foray into self-publishing, and I wanted, with this print, to make Jack Ketch as special as my Falling Rock collections.

I re-scanned all the pages in glorious HD, re-did the front pages and added a final spread, and re-did the back cover.  All of this was printed with care by the fine folks at Pinball Press.  The second printing of Jack Ketch is kind of a new reading experience.

Dancing With Jack Ketch is available for purchase through my online order form, and I will have copies at MoCCA and Stumptown this month!  Look for it!  Look for me!

friday robots

Just because it's April Fools Day doesn't mean you don't get Friday Robots.

These are companion robots to last week.  Yeah, they hang out after work, and are Facebook friends, and know about each other's favorite HBO series.

happy april fools day!

Today's Falling Rock was not drawn by me.  It was drawn by a team of highly-skilled covert operatives known collectively as "Kenan Rubenstein."

My favorite April Fool's tradition has been to have a friend draw this day's episode of Falling Rock.  Kenan is my first cartoonist friend to draw the comic.  (Faithful readers may remember him as the inventor of the Foldy Comic.) 

The April Fool's episode has classically been the best drawn and written Falling Rock of the year, and Kenan has raised the bar even higher for future April Foolers.

Does anyone else think I resemble Ernesto?