Lissau's workbench (summer 2014)
It's been months since I've begun work on anything new, but I should be knee-deep in comics projects for the next month and into 2013. So, time for a worklog. We'll see if I can maintain interest.
I have a few completed comics in the can waiting for publication right now. The first is "The Search for Blackberry's Treasure," to be featured in STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE #3 and Ape's FCBD flipcomic, along with one of my other SS comics. The name of the artist escapes me right now (we never met or communicated), and the book is months late so I don't know when it's coming out. Hopefully soon. It's a cute story, little girl fluff.
I'm much prouder of the second piece: FIELD TRIP, to be published in THE GRAPHIC TEXTBOOK next year. Art by our own @marvinmann. You've seen him post pages in his "Furries" discussion. The story is finished; now the curriculum committee is creating the questions-after-the-chapter section for our piece, just like a traditional textbook.
I just revised an 8-page horror tale called SWEET DREAMS that will be drawn by Christine Larsen for OMEGA COMICS PRESENTS (thanks again, @pjperez). Christine and I first worked together on Shrek and then again on the first Reading With Pictures anthology. Although those were cute stories, she really excels at horror, and that's what this story is all about. It was going to be self-published, but having it run in OCP gives us some better exposure and helps PJ put together a top-selling book (we hope).
I was supposed to start writing STRANGER, a 20-page sci-fi tale of middle-school hijinks, this weekend -- but I've been distracted by a cold and other real-life stuff. Nothing serious, promise. This will be drawn by the fabulous Dirk Tiede, a former Chicagoan who now lives in Boston and is one of my favorite people in comics. Much of what I know about exhibiting in Artist Alley, I learned watching Dirk move merch. And yeah, he makes good comics, too. Check out his Paradigm Shift graphic novel. Whether we self-publish or have this published elsewhere hasn't been decided.
Finally, the big project of 2013-14 will be OLD WOUNDS, my OGN with @johnbivens. To be published by PJ Perez's Pop! Goes The Icon, it's going to be a game-maker for the three of us. Just you watch and see.
I have a few completed comics in the can waiting for publication right now. The first is "The Search for Blackberry's Treasure," to be featured in STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE #3 and Ape's FCBD flipcomic, along with one of my other SS comics. The name of the artist escapes me right now (we never met or communicated), and the book is months late so I don't know when it's coming out. Hopefully soon. It's a cute story, little girl fluff.
I'm much prouder of the second piece: FIELD TRIP, to be published in THE GRAPHIC TEXTBOOK next year. Art by our own @marvinmann. You've seen him post pages in his "Furries" discussion. The story is finished; now the curriculum committee is creating the questions-after-the-chapter section for our piece, just like a traditional textbook.
I just revised an 8-page horror tale called SWEET DREAMS that will be drawn by Christine Larsen for OMEGA COMICS PRESENTS (thanks again, @pjperez). Christine and I first worked together on Shrek and then again on the first Reading With Pictures anthology. Although those were cute stories, she really excels at horror, and that's what this story is all about. It was going to be self-published, but having it run in OCP gives us some better exposure and helps PJ put together a top-selling book (we hope).
I was supposed to start writing STRANGER, a 20-page sci-fi tale of middle-school hijinks, this weekend -- but I've been distracted by a cold and other real-life stuff. Nothing serious, promise. This will be drawn by the fabulous Dirk Tiede, a former Chicagoan who now lives in Boston and is one of my favorite people in comics. Much of what I know about exhibiting in Artist Alley, I learned watching Dirk move merch. And yeah, he makes good comics, too. Check out his Paradigm Shift graphic novel. Whether we self-publish or have this published elsewhere hasn't been decided.
Finally, the big project of 2013-14 will be OLD WOUNDS, my OGN with @johnbivens. To be published by PJ Perez's Pop! Goes The Icon, it's going to be a game-maker for the three of us. Just you watch and see.
Comments
March 16: A one-hour library presentation on making comics with Gene Ha at the Indian Trails Public Library in Wheeling, IL. Gene and I have appeared at libraries together before and we hit it off, and he approached me to do this gig with him. Time to be determined.
April: C2E2. I expect I'll be manning the RWP booth again with Josh Elder and @TrevorAMueller. Trevor and I rocked the house last year while Josh had meetings and ran programs, and it worked out great.
May 4: FCBD at Comix Revolution in Mt. Prospect, IL.
May: ACen. I hope to be invited back as a guest (fifth or sixth time?), along with Trevor, @stevehorton, Alan Evans and Bivens. We should know by March.
July: Trevor, Horton, Alan and I will be among the guests of honor at Anime Midwest, a 3,000-person show at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare (where ACen and WWC are held). Not expecting monster sales, but they're putting us up for the weekend and at the very least we'll eat well and do some gambling. Right, gents?
August: Wizard World Chicago. My best show of the year, sales-wise. 'Nuff said.
September: May do the new Cincy Comicon, which actually is in Kentucky. Despite being a new show organized by Tony Moore, the guest list is impressive and I want to be part of it.
I'd also like to do the Las Vegas con, if they hold a second one and it doesn't conflict with Trevor's wedding.
Right now, that's it.
In an effort to simplify my collection and raise some business capital, I'm looking to sell a run of UNCANNY XMEN from the 1980s, issue 200-242, minus a few already sold. All are in NM, bagged since I bought them new decades ago. If you're interested in any or all, email me or post here. I'd rather sell them to a friend than a stranger on eBay or a dealer. And I'm not looking for much, only $3-5 an issue in most cases.
And as far as I know, the Las Vegas Comic Expo is returning for sure in 2013. If you haven't yet, I'd sign up for email updates on their website: http://lasvegascomicexpo.com/
NYCC is a huge show with a lot of sales opportunity. However, the tables in AA are $450 each and most of the official convention hotels are around $300 per night. Add air fair onto that, and you're already $10k in the hole before you've walked in the convention center doors.
C2E2 is not dissimilar, but it's slightly less expensive. I think tables are $400 each, for example.
Jimmie has the advantage of having a lot of product he can move, and I suspect he'd probably be able to come somewhere within striking distance of break even, assuming he keeps the travel costs down.