Amity Blamity Origins #9

Still early in the character development stage, this strip continues to explore Gretchens style of communication.

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Pages From Book Two...spoiler?

This is a 2-page spread from book two. I don't think it really spoils anything other than now knowing there's a dinosaur in it...but I think that will be apparent from the cover.  Anyhoo, I like this shot.  Book Two moves a little quicker than Book One with a bit more action :)

Amity Blamity Origins #8

I always knew I didn't want Gretchen to talk but was still experimenting with how to visually show her communicating through writing in her litle notepad.

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Amity Blamity Origins #7

This strip marks the introduction of Chester and the bond between him & Gretchen over Uncle Downey's misgivings.

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Amity Blamity ORIGINS #6

This strip introduces Downey's haven behind the barn.  Inspired by outdoor sofas from Bloom County, the house is based on the house my grandpa built in Newfoundland Canada in 1950 and the barn is modeled after one of two that were adjacent to the house I had while I lived in Nova Scotia.  Both drawn from memory.

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AMity Blamity ORIGINS #4 & 5

These 2 kind of go hand-in-hand so I thought I would post them together.

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Amity Blamity ORIGINS #3

Yup.  Sneezing while peeing (for guys at least) never ends well.  This is also the first appearance of Uncle Downey wearing pants :)

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Amity Blamity ORIGINS #2

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Amity Blamity ORIGINS #1

So here we go - the first ever comic page featuring the lovable characters Gretchen, Chester, Uncle Downey & Grandma!

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SDCC 2011 Round Up

This was my first SDCC ever.  It was very large and intimidating. Quite a spectacle.

Here's a shot from one of my signings this weekend at the SLG Booth.

L to R : Me, Dan Vado (my publisher) & Jhonen Vasquez (Creator of Invader Zim) 

All-in-all I had a good time.  Mostly hanging out with the SLG gang, getting cooking tips and hearing stories of past con adventures over homecooked meals and beers after the show :) 

I also got to meet Jeff Smith but failed to get a photo...I waited in line and was actually late for the very signing pictured above -lols.

Book Two Cover

Just finished designing the cover for Book Two. 

Just waiting on the "ok" from my ol' pal Steve Jobs to add in the iPods and earpbuds :)

POTD: Sketch from Book 2

Here's a concept sketch for page 57 of Book 2.

Belated TCAF Round UP

Well it's been a month since visiting the motherland (Canada-eh?) so I figure I'll post a few pics from the trip.

This is a great show taken by Ofelia she posted on her Glass of Fashion blog of me and my table helper(and BFF).  Me - I'm sure you know- but you may recognize her from a little TV program called "the Late Show with David Letterman", singing with John Legend :) She should have been the one signing autographs!

The show was super packed and everyone I met was super awesome and seemed enthusiastic about Book One

Here's a shot of the table. While I was working on a cmmission of Gretchen & Chester as superheroes.

Looking forward to doing more shows if I can squeeze in the time while working on Book Two (on page 60 as of this post!) and if it fits the budget :)

No Rest For The Wicked

On my way home from Toronto, I had a 2 hour layover in Vancouver & ended up inking pages of Book 2 while watching the Sharks lose to the Red Wings.  Gotta remember my A B P's ... "Always Be Producing" - more pics from TCAF & the trip soon. 

Pics From Reading PA

Here are a few pics from last weekend when I was in Reading for the CGS Supershow. I got to meet  & talk with Chuck from Comic Related website/podcast and he was gracious enough to feature me a few times in their show photos :) Comic Related is a great place to read about all things comics - I highly encourage checking them out!

 Above: holding up a Chester & Gretchen as Captain America & Wonder Woman for one of the CGS hosts Jamie D

Above: Chatting with CGS host Jamie D!

Love from the Canadian Media!

Check it out!  A national paper in Canada gave me some ink talking about this year's TCAF!

I think this is my first time being mentioned in a nationally distributed periodical :)

(click image to go to the full interview)

Pics From Stumptown Comics Fest

Spent this past weekend at Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland.  Had a great time and got to meet so many cool people interested in the book and my stuff.  Big thanks to everyone who came by - I sold all the books I brought with me, so it looks like people are digging it :) Everyone was super nice an patient while I did a little sketch in the book to personalize each and every copy as my way of thanks.  I appreciate the support so much and promise to get faster!

 

Plush Pig Prototype!

Step One: Prototypes

Step Two: Mass Production!

At Wondercon, Chester proved himself worthy of his own stuffed doll.  In spite of all my efforts, this little piggy seemed to be the real bread winner of the weekend.  By 3pm on Saturday I was completely out of the papercraft Chesters and had lots of inquiries about making "actual toys" of the lovable little guy.

So here's our first step.  In lieu of a lucrative licensing deal, wifey and I handmade two plush dolls of Chester last night :)

Our mission is to have a bunch of these ready for Stumptown Comics fest up in Portland next weekend and see if anyone likes them.

Photos From the Pre-Release Book Party!

Kicking  off the Wondercon weekend, we got advance copies of Amity Blamity Book One from  my publisher - SLG Publishing!  They express shipped a bunch of copies from Northern Quebec that arrived just in time for a great party at Mission Comics and Art as well as for Wonderon!

Big thanks to everyone who came out to the party and the convention.  I had a great time and was so happy people seemed to dig the book and prints and sketches :)

Amity Blamity FANimated!

My good friend - and funniest person I know - Curtis made this the other day using the papercraft characters from the Free Downloads section.  It's my first piece of "fan art" and it made me so happy I just had to share!

Curtis is a fantastic animator and does a hilarious podcast called the Curtis and Tara Show.  He also does and animated web series called Milo's Video Blog bout his cat.  Check them both out - funny, funny stuff!

3 Cheers for Cal & Strange Adventures!!!

Big thanks to Callum at Strange Adventures over on the other side of the continent for ordering a whopping 100 copies of Amity Blamity Book One - with the spirit of "we're gonna sell them all!"

Cal has got to be one of the best Comic Store owners on the planet - with 3 locations and years of experience under his belt I wouldn't hesitate to vote him in as CEO of Comics - if the comics industry were a company to be run :)

It's folks like Cal that make books like mine possible.

You can check out their site here:

www.strangeadventures.com

or join their facebook page here:

Strange Adventures

Below are 4x5 mini-prints I made up to give away with each purchase made at a Strange Adventures Comic Shop.   

I'm going to be signing 100 copies of each later today and hoping to make my way East sometime this Spring/Summer to visit and sketch for his customers :)

I'm not sure if these will be available if you order from their online store, but if you are interested I'm sure he can get one to you!

Panels for Primates

 Hey gang!
A while back I was asked to contribute to an anthology to raise money for www.primaterescue.org called "Panels for Primates."

Click on the thumbnails below to check out their site.  There is a lot of great work going on over there by some really talented folks!  Big thanks to Troy Wilson for reaching out and getting me involved.  

(click here to donate to primaterescue.org)