So.  A recap huh.  One of these things.  Lots of things have happened in 2011.  Many of them happened to me.  Some of them happened as a result of me.  You were probably there for a few of them.

Lets focus in and talk about the comic/drawing/illustration/animation things.

Kid Space Heater got made and released.  Its good.  Ive re-read it after giving it some breathing room, and sure, its no Against the Day, but its pretty good even so.  Maybe one day i’ll even have a way for u to buy it.

I did another seed paper illustration for Noted that Ill show off in the coming year, cool job, went off without a hitch.

I did animation for another “cartoon” for JWT Trendspotting.  Joe Bennett on the AE compositing and AE animation.  We had to rush it out, so if it doesnt knock your socks off, dont come crying to me.

More exciting things with Joe Bennett included animation for his Odin’s Afterbirth 2, a shot or two in the video he did for Animal, some effects animation in Bedtime Stories 2(soon to be released) and work on the now in production Odin’s Afterbirth 3, which Will knock your socks off.

I did a drawing of the Incredible Hulk grooming a cat for NY Cares through JWT(2), apprarently it went all the way to Marvel for their approval.  In related news, I did some technical drawings of histamines and allergy receptors for JJ Global (also JW2) that made it over to Saudi Arabia for group testing.  So officially, my drawings are better travelled than I am.(CANT SHOW THESE, BOUND BY CONTRACTS)

I had a color comic published in Catch Up and I’m currently coeditor of artistic content for the next issue of Catch Up.  This in conjunction with several of my GCPM cohorts.  Ive done some illustrations and designs with the FTW crew-FTW made massive strides this year, its rolling like a boulder down a mountain now.  The GGC was founded in 2011, thats been a real thing- we were on the heritage radio network, we were even representing as GGC Comics at the NYComic Con this year, which was a weird place to be.

And its next year that will eventually rilly blow your mind:  Im working on a halfway secret project with Josh Bayer(Raw Power/Suspect Device) and Pat Aulisio(Bowman/Yeah Dude Comics) that’s already rockin, Ive got upwards of 4 more secret projects, some that are holdovers from 2011.  Im looking forward to Odin 3-to Catch Up 4-Suspect Device 2…Im gonna have a half table with SUNGYOON CHOI at MOCCA this year, I did an album cover for Coelacanth, hoping to have the albulm at MOCCA….theres more but who’s still reading.  GET READY.

2012 IS HERE.

Over the past week and a few days I was making a number of set pieces and flyers for the themed Halloween party at JWT.  We made a fake shark skin rug, a 12 foot doorway mansion facade, there was a mounted walrus head, an octopus chandelier and some baby octopus candelabras, and some more nautical themed things.  I didnt really get any photos of the party, so for the most part you’ll have to just take my word.  Hopefully somebody else did, and they’ll pass them my way.  Here’s a process sequence of the octopus chandelier:

initial inks

watercolored

post printing and assembly

And then there was the flyer, where 11 employees were to be shown with the murder mystery motives, in a sort of Chester Gould Dick Tracy style

the web flyer

and the full size poster for the lobby

I didn’t take any photos at the event Proper, but I’ll steal somebody else’s.

So everybodys talkin bout how it was raining, and it was.  It was nasty.  The water from the sky could’ve ruined everything, but it didn’t.  People came anyway, seemed excited enough to be there, it was cool.  Pat Aulisio gets plenny credit for making things work/run smooth, also, for being a much better drummer than he made it seem like he was gonna be.  Him and Hope Mountain’s Mike Turzanski played while Bob Pistilli did some vocals and mouth harping at the GRAWLIX ceremony on Sat, wherein which awards were awarded and drinks got drunk.

At the show me and Victor Kerlow shared a table, and the legendary Sasquatch in the forest Steve Fuentes seemed never far away.  Had u not known what I looked like, u prolly thought he was me, when I had to get up and move around from sweating.  But he wasn’t-this was me:

PHOTO Courtesy of the FTW archives, taken Friday night.  Big thank yous to the whole GPC, who stepped in at the last minute to save days and avert printing disasters that will not be named.  Also big thanks to Eric Watkins for runnin round in a strange land with me, finding new ways to make life interesting, many a pleasant repasts.

THE FRUITS OF ALL LABORS

Immediately after taking the photo I thought of a few things I forgot to put in it, but its too late now, no turning back.  Lot of cool things there, My personal favorite was

1.SF #1 by Ryan Cecil Smith.  Love the art, the writing, the overall execution.  He nailed the tone.  It’s ridiculous without being tongue-in-cheek, it knows what it’s doing, and it flows really well.  He even did a page of trading cards of his characters at the back.

2.Suspect Device, the Nancy book that Josh Bayer and Edwin Vazquez put together is such a cool anthology, Im really proud to be in it.  Read their breakdown of what is, maybe think about owning it.  Josh also had ROM which is a reinterpretation of ROM #29 and should be seen to be loved.  Edwin had “Johnny is Dead” which is an intense violent poem comic, with art that hist you in the eyeballs.  Both Josh and Edwin kind of have that hit you in the eyeballs thing going on, and I’m loving it.

3.HOPE MOUNTAIN dudes Pete Lazarski. and Mike Turzanski blessed me with shirts and comics and a free newspaper that currently has a more of a single page illustration bent, but I’m told they’re lookin for more comics submissions, so Im gonna.

4.Heather Benjamin’s Sad Sex #9 won a Grawlix, or one of them did, and its prolly cuz its so well drawn and so gross.

5.Jo Jo Sherrow‘s Captcha comics were a cool thing I’d never seen before.  The way she tells the stories bounce around frenetically but in a way that holds together, I dunno, hard to put it into words.  I like her drawins a lot tho.  That was somethin I rilly liked about PAAC, I saw a bunch of comics I’d never seen before…felt like I was in the right mix.

6.I also really like Mooshe Nickerson‘s drawings in What Else are Girlfriends for?  A loose, expressive zine, real upfront and direct, all drawins-no words.

7.Was good to meet Mike Sgier at the show, his DIG looks real sharp, hes got a space buccaneer plot that he weaves together effortlessly, a lot of cool character and he’s playing with his tones and his blacks in inventive ways.

8.Rob Corradetti‘s KILLER ACID brand provided me with a rockin shirt. So did The Philadelphia Cartoonist Society

9.Ian Harker‘s Art Object wasn’t new to this PACC, but I didn’t have it, and now that I do, Im a happy guy.  This is one of Ian’s comics(mangaka) where he grafts his panels onto dimensional rectangles, and plus also its got espionage and gunfights and a firehose….man what a great comic, ure gonna love it!

10.Kevin Czapiewski‘s Waffle rounds it out as one of the most pleasant surprises.  An unassuming cover gives way to a comic focusing on two women gettin graphically romantic.  Its neither sweet nor dirty, and its both, if that makes any sense.

Frequent collaborator and boon companion Joseph Bennett wrapped up Odin’s Afterbirth Chapter 2 and posted it TODAY.  It’s an outstanding piece of animated cinema, and as with anything I tell u about, I just know you’re going to love it.  Also, for added incentive, you should understand that I did some animation for this, so prepare for being awed:

Odin’s Afterbirth Chapter 2 from Joseph Bennett on Vimeo.

GCPM cohort William Cardini posted the Entirety of Our collaborative comic Shaman Thunder over at HYPERCASTLE.  HERE. This comic Rocks.  You should read it, not only because he went to all the trouble of putting it up there for u in an easy to read type way, but also because it just came together SO nice.  We had it ready for the 2010 MOCCA, so its already seen a year anniversary, time for the 2011 babies to know about it.

The timing on this is fairly APT, cuz new books are about to flood.

Little things, big things.  The trouble with life is sometimes you cant tell people what youre doing.  Ive been working on several comics that may never come to light, others that got delayed for various reasons.  One that IS coming out is KID SPACE HEATER.  That’s a 24 page comic Im going to have ready for the 2011 PACC-The Philadelphia Alternative Comic Con is the premier convention in Philadelphia showcasing all things alternative/fringe/indy/art comics and zines. This years event will take place at the Rotunda (4014 Walnut st.) August 14th from 12-7pm.  I have a table, plus might just have a surprise guest, you should come.

Another pretty big pretty exciting thing is the CATCH UP Summer 2011 issue.  Ive got a color comic in there, Catch Up is a HUGE Comics/poetry anthology filled with a hefty roster of talent-more to come on that.

What else, other things Im not sure I should talk about yet….havent gotten the go-ahead, but theres hopefully two more books in the mix, plus an awesome cartoon I worked on for my friend Joe Bennett…

If you want to see some off the cuff crude jam comics, check out EXPLOSIVE BRAIN MATTER, a blog run by mah pal Steve Fuentes.

MORE SOON