Friends

http://www.octopuspie.com/2009-12-02/ten-pins-remaining/

Day 3! This is the biggest painting ever. Do you know how bad Eve is at bowling? Relatively bad.

And of course it is for sale in the store!

Hey all, just wanted to let you all see this year's Inhislikeness.com Advent Calendar.

This is it's 3rd year running and if you are interested in seeing it unfold, all you have to do is take the copy paste info at the bottom of the image and put it on your blog/facebook/myspace/etc. and every day, just like an advent calendar, it will reveal the whole affair til Christmas.


COPY AND PASTE:
<a href='http://www.inhislikeness.com'><img src='http://www.inhislikeness.com/filedepot/advent09.jpg'></a>

If you are unfamiliar with inhislikeness.com, it is my little webcomic that features God & the Devil talking about the world and pop culture, all in the minimalistic form of dots. It's been running now since 2003, and just crested the 700th strip with the beginning of a sojourn into Norse Mythology with RAGNA-ROCK-CITY!

Ok, enough prattling and self promotion. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and a fantastic rest of the year.

James Hatton
inhislikeness.com

http://girlyyy.com/go/729

: Follow Josh's Twitter for updates on Girly!

Project Wonderful - Your ad here, right now, for as low as $0.50

Here is a screenshot from our make-believe video game "JFish and Greg RPG". Here is a typical random battle in the game, in which Greg and I use our talents to destroy comics.

Thus, creating them...

Listen to the battle theme from Final Fantasy IV to get the full effect.

(...and also I'm embarrassed that I just now noticed that my first three entries all start with the same letter. NOT INTENTIONAL, SORRY FOLKS, SORRY)

American Virgin
DC Comics/Vertigo (Steven T.Seagle, Becky Cloonan) 2006-2008
Wikipedia Article

Unrelated to the Rob Schneider comedy released earlier this year and unfortunately saddled with the archly tacky tagline “From the Bible Belt to the Chastity Belt” (what?), Seagle’s American Virgin is far from perfect; a writer who occasionally crawls up his own head (you may care to reference his earliest works, Kafka and Amazon, as examples from which he has strayed but slightly), Seagle indulges himself in some very stage-y scenes which defy readability, and some characters (such as Mel, a sort of gender-queer John Constantine by way of a Quentin Tarantino film) which seem cast from Vertigo’s “weird for weird’s sake” mold.

Still, the story of sex symbol, evangelist and abstinence advocate Adam Chamberlain’s vision-soaked journey to confront the murder of his fiancée and come to … er, grips … with his own overpowering sexual urges makes for an action/drama as compelling as anything you might see on HBO.

American Virgin also manages to perform one of the most convincing acts of alchemy in contemporary comic book fiction, slowly transforming the very real and practically shamanic presence of God (or, at the very least, of Godliness) which permeates the early half of the story into a very real and practically shamanic omnipresence of potent sexuality. That the sacred and the profane are as much essentially united as they are at violent odds with one another is one of the key themes to the book, and the friction thereby generated keeps this often violent and generally morally oblique story moving at breakneck pace.

Also, it cannot be stated enough that artist Becky Cloonan really stitches this book together, providing artwork at once both saintly and sexy...

American Virgin Vol 1
American Virgin Vol 2
American Virgin Vol 3
American Virgin Vol 4

Hey! What are you doing for Christmas? I will be doing this: GETTING RICH, because these cats you see here are available to buy as honest-to-goodness christmas decorations at etsy, thanks to "Amanda Gourmet Gamer Girl" Irwin.

If you want to buy some for yourself, they're right here! Better order quick if you want to get them in time for christmas, ok

Christmas traditions depicted here include: Rudolf Cat, Santa Cat, Christmas Pudding Cat, Falling Asleep In Front Of The TV Cat, Kwanza Kake Kitty, Cherub Cat, Heart Attack Induced By Over-Consumption Cat. There are probably many more I never thought of! If you wanna draw some Christmas Cats and post them in the comments, this is a practise I fully endorse!

Asterios Polyp
Pantheon Books (David Mazzuchelli) 2009
Wikipedia article

It’s always surprised me that Mazzuchelli’s name is so rarely mentioned - if ever - in the same breath as Chris Ware or Dan Clowes, although that arguably has as much to do with properties as anything; Clowes has Eightball and its wealth of movie material, Ware has Acme Novelty Library and its recurring characters, while – an excellent body of work aside, Mazzuchelli had the experimental and generally under-the-radar Rubber Blanket.

Asterios Polyp – adeptly laid out, vibrant, complex, and (much like James Joyce’s Ulysses) one of those books which teaches the reader how to read it as they go - is very likely the book which will change Mazzuchelli’s fortunes. Very far removed in style from the journeyman work of his younger days and distinctly his own voice (unlike the excellent 1994 adaptation of Paul Auster’s book City of Glass, probably Mazzuchelli’s best known work since Batman:Year One or Daredevil: Born Again but, while a clever adaptation, an adaptation under another writer), it’s distinctly a series of visual and structural signatures which are among the most stirring in modern comics.

Asterios Polyp

The Onion's AV Club recently put together a list of the best comic books and graphic novels of the last decade, and it got me thinking about my own picks for the same period – many of which, admittedly, overlap with theirs.

Still, the 21st century has, so far, been a real renaissance for the comic art form and - speaking as a fellow who has read volumes upon volumes of books dating from every decade of the last eight which even had comic books - I can honestly say with conviction that we have never had a better ten year spread. The variety, the quality, the expanse and the experimental atmosphere of the last ten years are, when taken together, unparalleled.

So, what follows over the next few posts will be my personal picks for the Twenty-One Greatest Comics of the Twenty-First century (so far). And with that being said, some caveats:

• First off, I realize that the year – and therefore the “Naughts” aren’t quite yet over, but we’re close enough to the finish line that I think we can call the race (although, admittedly, one of my picks is only a month or so old, and I would’ve missed it if I’d started this list at the beginning of November). Also, a lot of these comics would make great gifts for the holidays, so, you know, I thought I’d get it in early... Please notice my Amazon Associate-powered links ...


• Along those lines, I also realize that the first decade of the 21st century isn’t actually over until the end of next year. I also don’t care – as far as goes popular culture, decades run from zero to nine. Plus, I’m just following what the AV Club suggested, so go yell at them if you feel you gotta.


• I’m numbering these just because I want to keep track of the “Twenty One Comics” gimmick. These aren’t ranks. I got no interest in ranks, I got no interest in deciding if Marvel Two-In-One #26 is better than Devil Dinosaur #3, metaphorically speaking.


• My aim is to cover as many genres and creators as possible, my guiding concept is that the books I end up selecting should compose a great library of which anyone could be proud, whether they’re superhero, general fiction, non-fiction, memoir or whatever collectors. Even the books with the superheroes in it, I’d be proud to show off in my library.


• More than one of my picks was originally published prior to 2000 and is being included because either a definitive collection or an American edition was first released some time after 1999.


• If you disagree with these picks, try not to take it personally - a lot of people are, strangely enough (check out the comments in the above-linked AV Club article for an example). Might I suggest, in fact, that if you feel strongly about some book's inclusion or exclusion, you oughtta make your own list?

Okay, so, on to the first!

All-Star Superman
DC Comics (Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Jamie Grant) 2005-2008
Wikipedia article

It’s damn near impossible to keep Grant Morrison off of this list, and it’s only because of a self-imposed rule that I limit each author to a single selection which keeps me from listing at least five of his other works (see below), including three with his frequent collaborator, graphic designer and fellow Scot Frank Quitely.

The charm of Morrison’s self-contained Superman epic is that it’s imbued with science fiction and metaphysical wonder, but more than that, truly believable and tender emotion. Arguably, Morrison has written several series which may be construed as love letters; to comic books in Flex Mentallo, to superheroes in Seaguy, and here, to the original superhero Superman. Beyond anything else, Morrison may be the first writer since the lovelorn and longing Jerry Siegel to imbue the Superman and Lois relationship with a resonance so compelling that it’s enviable.

Other great titles Morrison has produced in the last ten years: The icon establishing JLA Earth 2, the apple-cart upsetting New X-Men, the phenomenal WE3, the engrossing Seaguy and its sequel Seaguy: Slaves of Micky Eye, the very sweet and funny Vimanarama, mindbending The Filth, ambitious collaborative effort 52, ambitious and hindered series Final Crisis, and a personal favorite, the exceptionally ambitious and awe-inspiring Seven Soldiers. And that's just a few of them ...

All-Star Superman Vol 1
All-Star Superman Vol 2

backpacking
Want to embrace your wanderlust on the cheap? If you're high on adventurous spirit, but low on funds, this community can help you plan a trip to anywhere. Offering plentiful tips on how to travel light, you can post about inexpensive hotels and youth hostels if you're into urban exploration or discuss camping gear and mosquito netting for the great outdoors. Hitch your backpack, pitch your tent, and carpe diem!

I told a friend of mine I was going to do a marathon, and he gaped at me and said, "But that's, like, fifteen miles!" DUDE, IF ONLY.



We were slow. Oh, we were painfully, embarrassingly slow. But thanks to a mix-up trying to hand off my car keys to my parents, we literally started in last place, and we did not finish in last place! In fact, we cruised along quite nicely until about the eight-mile mark, when the fact I hadn't run in a month and a half finally caught up with me. Even then, we were doing kind of okay until I started to lose momentum around mile fifteen. I think mile twenty is when I noticed my speech was slurring, and I'd had swollen sausage fingers for miles by then. (My brother is a peach and sang me songs when I thought I might cry.)

While I was jogging downhill in mile twenty-one or so, the left ankle and the right knee got together and voted no on proposition marathon, and so I think the reason I'm able to walk at all now is that we had a pleasant five-mile cool-down stroll until I winced my way through the last half-mile so I could at least cross the finish line running. It wasn't a good marathon, but it was an epic marathon, and we were in good spirits all the way to the finish, and so I am proud of us even as I cringe at the idea of giving up another whole summer to another training program so I can do this marathon thing properly.

Alright, so I'm on this pimping-other-people kick because it makes it easier for me to be like "hey go look at my comics" if I am simultaneously talking about how you should go look at somebody else's comics, because that's easier. Anyway! Today's "hey go look at this thing" post is about Monsters by Ken Dahl (better known as Gabby Schulz in "real life").

I had the unique experience of touring with Gabby on the Punchbuggy Tour (right along with MK Reed, who has already been pushed by me) which was, as I may have mentioned, a completely amazing and life-changing experience (not so much because of Gabby but more the whole traveling around learning life lessons and eating at Cracker Barrel thing). I had read Monsters when it was in minicomic form and loved it so very much I could not wait to see how it ended. I was pretty psyched when I learned the book version of Monsters would be debuting at SPX this year alongside my book (My Brain Hurts: Volume Two) and MK's book (Cross Country). We were planning on touring together anyway so it was just awesome serendipity that we all came out with new books at the same time!

Other people have already written way more eloquently about Monsters than I ever will, so if you want introspection you should go read that instead. What I will say is, Gabby draws real nice. He draws real nice books about herpes, the social implications of herpes, and how he thinks way too hard about everything. But he is also really good at capturing certain awful feelings in comic book form. Like the way it feels to do something really shitty to somebody else, and know that it's wrong, but keep doing it anyway and feeling sorry for yourself the whole time. Way too many times while reading Monsters I found myself thinking "yeah I know how that feels exactly!" and the way he draws these things he really shows it, if that makes sense. I guess you have to read the book (or read a better written review).

He also draws some really heinous pictures of people covered in herpes sores, and I don't recommend reading it before bed, because I had a really bad dream about herpes monsters chasing me and trying to fuck me with gigantic sore-covered cocks and it was really awful. I don't know if that says anything about the book though because I tend to have dreams about whatever I did last before falling asleep. Recently I watched the Dog Whisperer and read a blog about clothes called Put This On and had a dream about a show called Put This On Your Dog which was about how to dress your dog like a gentleman.

Anyway, you can buy a copy of Monsters from Secret Acres or a finer comic book store in your area. If you are in the New York area, I recommend Bergen Street Comics, Rocketship, Forbidden Planet or Desert Island.

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And of course, a new Freewheel page is up, blah blah blah, check it out, tell your friends, etc.

Late night working, difficult morning. I'm not very good at winter mornings.



The marvellous writer of the book I illustrated, Morris the Mankiest Monster, Giles Andreae, has lots of other tricks up his sleeve, including the famous Purple Ronnie series he originated, and his more recent line of stuff, Edward Monkton. Last week the Times ran a huge three-page section on his thoughts behind his new animation, The Pig of Happiness. While I could relate more to the Pig of Comfort this morning than the Pig of Happiness, I was hugely intrigued by his description of his breakdown into clinical depression. His stark, insightful description of it reminded me of the huge gulf between being depressed and suffering depression; people who have never suffered depression can't even start to appreciate the total wiping out of personality and horror that come with it. More than a call be 'be happy', I found it a call to be gentle and patient with people who are depressed, something I could use reminding about when I'm tempted to wish they'd 'snap out of it' or something equally callous. (Giles related that to someone telling a person with a broken neck to get a grip.)
You can read the whole article at Times Online here.

It also makes me think about how much creative people who have suffered serious mental health issues have to offer the rest of us in giving us a window into this whole world. Their contributions are so HUGELY valuable; it's not enough just to write something worthy, that will only get a small audience. These guys know how to make the subject genuinely interesting, and what can be more interesting than the dark and strange places the mind can go. So few people are able really to communicate what breakdown and chronic suffering is like, or make us see things differently, want be more understanding and contemplate the fragile thread that keeps us all from falling into the same pit.

A lot of people in the comics community have come to value Leeds-based writer and artist Darryl Cunningham for having this very gift. He's someone who has struggled hugely with depression, but has retained a sensitivity to what others are going through and lets us see what really happens. Keep an eye out for his upcoming book, Psychiatric Tales, coming out with Blank Slate in February. You can see extracts from his book on Live Journal (he's tallguywrites), or to go straight to the autobiographical chapter, click on the image:



Thanks, Giles and Darryl! We all really need to hear this stuff, and you guys make us look forward to reading about it.

The 100 days project - pledge to do something for 100 days to make yourself a better person. Obviously that means comics. I'm doing a panel-a-day for 100 days. Hopefully there'll be a coherent story at the end of it...

Originally published at Scribblehound.

I am VERY proud to say that bearfoo.com is now online! Updating every wednesday with Bear strips, from the first to the last, along with a few extra new things thrown in. If you've enjoyed Bear already in de comics, then come and rediscover the horrible ookness online! Or if you've never seen Bear and you found this journal from my more child-friendly work, have a look, scream a bit, tell an authority and vow to never go near animals again! Bearfoo does contain swearing, violence, and a lot of poo and sick. Be warned.

Yayyyy! Come and enjoy the fuzziness! I'm so chuffed to be able to share Bear online, he deserves a home on the internet :)

There are a lot of people posting Riker drawings lately! People like bottomlesspop and finkenstein, all inspired by the seminal program from this rad Riker blog Number One (featuring a revolutionary Counselor Troi by beatonna).

Here's mine,