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)

Miami Update - Mike Sells Out!

Miami Comic Con was a grand old time! The hands-down winner of the show were the sketches below. Original pencil and watercolor sketches that I had in tiny frames.  I sold pretty much  all I had made the first day of the show, and did a bunch of on the spot commission of Gretchen & Chester dressed up as popular superheroes :)

General consensus..."Adorable!"

Big thanks - high fives and Hugs to everyone who came by my table and chatted with me this weekend. I had a great time and really appreciate the support, encouragements an interest in Amity Blamity's release!

I want to do these for Seattle too.  

Hopefully people will like them up there as well....one way to find out I guess!

More Sketches For Miami

 G&C as Hawkgirl & Aquaman

G&C as Robin & Poison Ivy 

 G&C as Rogue & Cyclops

G&C as Black Cat & Thor

Sketches for Miami Comic Con

Spent most of the day getting ready to head out to Miami this weekend.  Got some promo books ready, organizing my table displays and did some sketches of Gretchen & Chester dressed up as popular superheroes :)  Below are the sketches so far.  I want to add a splash of water color to them, but we'll see how far I get by tomorrow.

G&C as Super Girl & Batman 

 G&C as Wonder Woman & The Flash

G&C as Power Girl & Superman

Thank you Comic Geek Speak!

Big thanks to the gang over at CGS. I had the opportunity to talk with them and be featured on their latest episode which is a spotlight on Indie Comics.  They were really gracious and we talked for quite a while about comics and a bunch of stuff and they included part of our chat in this episode along with 2 other great artists :)

(click on either image to go to Comic Geek Speak to listen)

Check It Out: Mike Vs Man Vs Art

Man Vs.Art Episode 43! Interview With 

Comic Creator Mike White

(click image to hear the interview)

Man Vs Art is a great podcast for aspiring creators and fans of animation, drawing, comics art and all 'round awesomeness!

Raul was gracious enough to have me on his show where we chatted about Amity Blamiy and a bit about animation and the creative process.  I was really happy to be on the show and couldn't have asked for a nicer, cooler host :)  He's a former Disney animator and super enthusiastic about the craft of art & animation - not to mention a fantastic artist himself.  His show is great to listen to while you work, and his passion, positivity is infectious, driving you to always want to better yourself and your work.

Check out his show and blog - not just cuz I'm on it, but because you'll definitely love it! 

http://manvsart.com/

SLG Releases Amity Blamity Digitally. Chapters now Available on Mobile Devices!

Starting today Amity Blamity is available to be downloaded for your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch & Android Phones through Comixology!!! 

Book One is being released in 5 issues over the next few months... much like a REAL monthly comic :) Issue #1 is FREE and subsequent chapters will be only 99cents!

(click on the image to visit the Comixology site)

You can get it everywhere! All you have to do is...get it!

Amity Blamity is available through Comixology! 

For folks who use Comixology, you can add Amity Blamity Book One to your Pull List

Also, you can download the First Chapter of Amity Blamity for FREE courtesy of the great folks at SLG Publishing! Read it on whatever device you like, iPad, Kindle, Sony eReader, Nook - whatever can view a PDF!  

(click on the image to download)

This Months Previews Pages 216 & 217

Check it out! In this months Previews (the comic book Diamond Distributors Catalog) Amity Blamity is solicited for sale!!! I was super excited to see this because I've never had anything distributed before - other than myself selling stuff to friends - so this was a first experience for me. 

My little blurb appears right next to Terry Moore's final issue of Echo - which I thought was pretty neat; to be placed right next to an Indy Comics Hero.  

Also it got picked for a "Spotlight" - apparently the Distro company picks these so it was encouraging that they felt the book was notable to mention to their customers :)

Big thanks to Leef from Mission Comics and Art who gave me this copy for FREE! 

Stay tuned for Book Release Party news - I'm in the process of co-ordinating one in the city at Leef's store and one at SLG Publishing HQ in San Jose the weekend of Wondercon!  

POTD: New Beginnings

This weekend I had a bunch of firsts.  After 2 years of living in America, i got my first car wash & finally bought a TV with antenna.  I also rearranged the studio.  There's one of my cats on the bookshelf looking ever so reminiscent of Garfield circa 1978.

 Today a box of bristol paper arrived(below).  

With a little luck (and dedication), in a few months, this pile of paper will be Book Two.

Officially Official - SLG Press Release!

Neat-O! Thanks to a tweet by my pal Chris Butcher (@Comics212 on Twitter) I found out SLG sent out a press release announcing Amity Blamity Book One.  It's my first time having a press release sent out about my work so I was pretty stoked :)

Here's a link to the sweet Canadians who broke the story:
http://www.hypergeek.ca/2011/01/slg-announces-new-graphic-novel-series-amity-blamity.html

or you can read it here:

Pot Bellies, Pigtails And Flying Garlic Invade The Family Farm
New SLG graphic novel series Amity Blamity A Fun For All-Ages Farmland Adventure.

SAN JOSE, CA – 1/28/2011 – Starting a new job is an adventure for anyone, but when you are a four-year old girl working in the barnyard offices of a pot-bellied pig adventure becomes more than a euphemism. So goes Amity Blamity, the new graphic novel series by cartoonist Mike White coming in April from SLG Publishing. Amity Blamity is a man (girl) vs. environment story that embraces the philosophy that you don’t need to be “the chosen one” or have a grand destiny to change the world for the better. The story follows Gretchen (a shy 4year old with pigtails) Chester(a talking potbellied pig) and Downey (a pig of an uncle) as they get swept up on a journey incited by strange forest critters  inundating the outskirts of the family farm. Amity Blamity creator Mike White enjoyed trying to see the world through a child’s eyes for this family-friendly adventure series. “I used to look at the world through candy glasses and was always shocked by what the “real” world is like. ” said White  I’ve always had the world in my brain -how things seem to me- that is completely different from the world that actually IS.” White cites has diverse interests as influences in his development of Amity Blamity “Bloom County, Andy Capp, Cheers, South Park, Leave it to Beaver, A Family Affair are some of my most favorite shows and comics.  If you jam  all the characters and relationships from those shows into the empty tin can of my brain, shake it up, then dump it out, what you get is the cast of Amity Blamity.” While Amity Blamity is White’s debut project he has been no stranger to comics and has attracted a fair amount of attention to himself. Amity Blamity itself comes from White’s online comic Pigtails and Potbellies.  Mike has been featured in Boards magazine, hailed as one of ‘Top 10 Emerging Talents from Toronto’ 2007 and won the Canadian Film Centre New Media Award for the Resfest 2006 Cancon Selection for directing the MSTRKRFT “Work On You” Music Video. Amity Blamity volume one is the first in a biannual series of books following the adventures of the innocent gretchen and her pig Chester.  Set for an April 2011 release, Amity Blamity volume one will be 160 pages at 10.95 isbn number 978-1-59362-209-1 and will be available at finer bookstores, comics stores via Amazon.com and through the publishers own website at www.slgcomic.com. A preview of the book can be downloaded at the same website. An online interview with Mike White can be read at the publishers website at this link

Established in 1986 and celebrating its 25th anniverary, SLG Publishing is a San Jose, California-based publisher of comic books, graphic novels and related merchandise. Some of SLG’s more notable comics and creators have included Johnny the Homicidal Maniacby Jhonen Vasquez, Milk and Cheese by Evan Dorkin and Zombies Calling by Faith Erin Hicks.www.slgcomic.com

Amity Blamity Book One Official Trailer

Check it out! 

A sweet little peek at Book One, with music by the wonderful and talented Dustin Vado and the SLG Publishing/Music empire!

Exclusive First Peek from SLG Publishing

SLG Publishing did an interview with me last week and posted it to their website.
 Here's the link:

The book was also made available for pre-order over on Amazon!  Pre-order a copy today and help me climb the ranking!  

(as of this post I'm # 227,854 on the "Best Seller" list) 

I'm in the process of figuring out a good gift to give to folks that pre-order, so get a copy and keep a copy of the receipt so you can send it in for some Amity Blamity Awesomeness!  Time to figure out how to make "swag"...

POP Mock Ups

Here's a mock up for a a nice 2-sided poster I'm doing for retailers to put in window or near their point-of-purchase displays.  I'm not sure of the exact price of the book or the exact text but this is what I've been playing around with - it all might change tomorrow ;)

New Poster. Simple, Elegant, Refined...it just needs some iPod earphones :D

Here's a preview of another poster designed for the Amity Blamity 2011 marketing campaign.  

Starting in January we're going to be trying to promote awareness for Amity Blamity Book One hitting the stores in April and available in Previews in February!

Speculation on "Social" Behavior

I was invited to be a Special Guest Writer for one of my favorite comics Lethargic Lad.  I wrote the above comic(based on actual events) which was drawn by my good pal Greg.  Click on the image to visit his site for hilarious comics spoofing Superheroes & Pop Culture.  Don't forget to follow him on Facebook and Twitter!

Amity Blamity Digital Release Covers

With Book One eagerly waiting to be printed and its release in stores everywhere, Amity Blamity will also be available for download through various Digital Comics providers so you can get them on your iDevice or your computer.  I'm not sure when they will be available, but will also make them available here on the blog too :)

New Cover Mock Up

Here's yet another revised mock up for the Book One cover. 

 My good friend Lisa has been helping me out and we're still revising, but this version is closer.  The process got slowed down by some freelance work that came my way, but hopefully we'll have book one locked and loaded by the end of the week :)

Cover Concept v2

Here's another cover mock up that got nixed.  Getting closer though :)

Cover Sketch

Here's a sketch I did for the cover of Book One.  

I'm going to take another stab at it cuz this composition is a bit crammed and probably not a good choice for a cover. 

I like the drawing and it's got a good expressiveness so I figured I'd post it. :)