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"Weiner Roast" Reviewed by Comics Reporter

Tom Spurgeon reviewed the "Weiner Roast" mini comics anthology -- you can read it here. The anthology roasts Minneapolis activist and cartoonist Ken Avidor, and was created for the Lutefisk Sushi B event that the Conspiracy put together last year.

Here's my comic, a parody of Avidor's "Illichville" and "Return to Illichville."






You can pick up your copy at FallCon on October 6 & 7. Five bucks.

24 Hour Comics Sign-Up Info

Interested in spending a weekend surrounded by sleep-deprived cartoonists?

Contact Danno at: staplegenius at yahoo.com

Details about the event are in the post below.

Upcoming Events

Mark your calendars for these upcoming events:

Cartoonist Conspiracy Meeting
DATE: Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007, 6:30-10:00 pm
WEBSITE: www.cartoonistconspiracy.com
WHAT'S GOING ON: 10-20 local cartoonists hang out in Diamond's Coffee Shoppe and draw a jam comic. What's that? Someone picks a theme (e.g. Robot Dinosaurs vs. Karl Rove) and everyone draws panels of a larger story, trying to either build off the panel before you or connect your panel to the one that follows it.
SOCIAL INTERACTION QUOTIENT: 5. This is the one time of the month most of us see each other, which involves about 30 seconds of catching up before we dive into the drawing. For most observers it's a very quiet, somber affair.
REASON TO GO IF YOU'VE NEVER GONE BEFORE: I don't think there's a more inclusive group of artists on the planet. Every single one of us has had that "Uh, hey, this is my first time ... what do I do?" experience, so there's a 0% risk of you feeling out of place if you're showing up for the first time.

MNCBA FallCon
DATE: Saturday and Sunday, October 6 & 7, 2007, 10 am to 5 pm
WEBSITE: fallcon.mncba.com
WHAT'S GOING ON: This is Minnesota's biggest yearly convention. A healthy mix of professional cartoonists and dealers. This is your chance to see every Minnesota cartoonist in one room.
SOCIAL INTERACTION QUOTIENT: 9. Lots and lots of talking goes on here. For two whole days, cartoonists are forced to socialize, make eye contact, and read body language.
REASON TO GO IF YOU'VE NEVER GONE BEFORE: Word on the street is that the Cartoonist Conspiracy is setting up a reading room of sorts with couches. Reading material from the past three years of the Conspiracy, Lutefisk Sushi, and 24 Hour Comics Day will be on hand in a fancy spinner rack. Oh, and one of the couches is from the BTA office, so please, no making out.

24 Hour Comics Day
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 20, 10 am through Sunday, October 21, 10 am.
WEBSITE: www.24hourcomics.com/
WHAT'S GOING ON: For many of us, this will be the fourth 24 Hour Comics Day in a row. The challenge is simple: draw 24 pages of comics in 24 hours. And do it surrounded by your peers, and also surrounded by lots and lots of food and coffee.
SOCIAL INTERACTION QUOTIENT: -2. Speaking only for myself, if you try to talk to me during this event you will be greeted by a wall of silence and a cold stare. But the stare will reach you by way of bouncing off the page I'm working on, because I can't even afford to look up and stare coldly directly at you. Must keep working...
REASON TO GO IF YOU'VE NEVER GONE BEFORE: This is the most competitive you will EVER see us. This isn't an art contest, however; it's a feat of endurance. If you're a cartoonist, this is a rite of passage. Literally, you're not cartoonist unless you go through this. You may be a handsome young dude with a big fat book called "That Salty Air" coming out from Top Shelf later this year, but if you haven't survived this event you're not truly a man.

And for your pleasure, here are some photos to remind you of last year's 24 hour comics event:

Adam Wirtzfeld


Eric Lappegard and Ken Avidor at Grumpy's


Curtis Square Briggs


Danno


Vas Littlecrow and Steve Stwalley


Some jerk who looks really tired


Zander Cannon, using the old "milk crate" technique

'Bone Sharps' Voted SEXIEST Non-Fiction Graphic Novel...

... thanks to last week's cameo in HBO's "Tell Me You Love Me," a drama already famous for being extremely sexually explicit. Well, now you have another reason to watch. I haven't seen the pilot myself, but apparently David (Tim DeKay) reads Bone Sharps, Cowboys and Thunder Lizards (Big Time Attic's first graphic novel) to his son in one scene. The son, one assumes, is enthralled.

Zander and Shad and I have known about this cameo for two years, ever since Jim Ottaviani (the author and publisher of Bone Sharps) emailed us this jpeg:



This was back when the show was called "SexLife." I'm not sure exactly who shot the photo -- if I remember correctly an HBO executive emailed the photo to Jim to get the rights to show the book. I'd love to know how the propmaster chose the book (besides the obvious: the gorgeous cover by Mark Schultz).

Here is a detail of the photo that has undergone hi-tech image processing in order to make the book stand out:



And if you needed ONE MORE reason to watch the show, Penny from LOST is one of the main characters. Penny, may you find Desmond in the South Pacific and also patch up your marital problems back in the States...



If anyone has screencaps from the actual show, please send them our way!

Versus: Round 3

Check out this story and many other brand new brawls in Bud Burgy and Amado Rodriguez's "Muscles and Fights volume 2," premiering at FallCon in a few weeks:

Eric Lappegard Tribute Photos

Here are a couple of shots from the big auction/raffle/art show at Altered Esthetics last week.

The best moment of the whole show was during the raffle when a 5 year old girl won the long board that Tim was gunning for. She'd better become the next Tony Hawk or Tim will be pissed.

Here's the general layout: Art from "Alley Cat" on the right (up for auction), raffle items on the table in the middle, and a huge wall of Eric's artwork on the left.

Kriske manning the cash box.

Danno and Drivas giving a friendly one-fingered salute.

The Roe Family Singers entertaining the crowd.

Zander and Tim, mad that they didn't win a tattoo in the raffle.

Uptown Girl Presents

UPDATE: "Uptown Girl Presents" will be available at FallCon, but in limited supply.
Here's a 2-pager I made for Bob Lipski's "Uptown Girl Presents." Not sure when this anthology is coming out, but seeing as Bob is the most prolific cartoonist in Minnesota, it'll probably be coming out soon.


Right now, a lot of you are probably thinking "Hey Kevin, it looks like you used a .80 rapidograph to crosshatch the title panel, while everything else was done with a .60. What gives?" You're so right. I inked the body of the story with a .60 (#2) but kept having flow problems. In frustration I bent the nib, little by little, until the thing finally snapped right off. Fortunately I had saved the title panel until the very end, so I finished that off with a .80 (#3). So now I have to go drop $25 on another .60 -- to replace the SECOND one I've broken in three months. I have to be more gentle or I'll go broke.

Fleming Hazmat Pin-Ups!

Here are some pin-ups we drew for upcoming issues of Dank!'s "MANLY TALES OF COWARDICE" -- Issues #1 and #2 available at Big Brain, Dreamhaven, and the Source.

Issue #3 will be released at FallCon (with a Maxeem pin-up), issue #4 will be out October/November-ish (with my pin-up), and Zander's pin-up will be in issue #5, due out in early 2008.

I went with a pommel horse theme as a nod to the 2008 China Olympics:

Zander's drawing suggests an imminent punch in the face:

staplegenius.com

Desert Bayou

Our friend Tom Lemmer recently wrapped up production on the film Desert Bayou, which he wrote. From the website:

"In the wake of one of the worst natural and humanitarian disasters ever to visit American shores, nearly 600 African Americans were airlifted to the almost entirely white state of Utah…Desert Bayou, a documentary about Hurricane Katrina, seeks to examine whether two cultures can come together in a time of utter chaos, or whether their differences prove too great a challenge to overcome."

Opening dates:
October 5th: New York, New Orleans
October 19th: Los Angeles, Chicago, Salt Lake City
November 2nd: Philadelphia, Houston, Atlanta

Congrats, Tom. Can't wait to see it. Hopefully the film will come around to Minneapolis before too long...

The Tick 20th Anniversary

Zander's got a one-pager in this fully-loaded Tick anthology. Feast yer eyes on it here.

Happy Twentieth, Tick.

Storyboards in Action

When we're not drawing graphic novels, Zander and I produce storyboards for Minneapolis interactive media giant Axcept Media. On Wednesday we toured a big video shoot at Broadview Media in Edina. Axcept Media director Drew Hill let us snoop around and take photos between scenes.

I was excited to see our storyboards come to life. Zander was excited to see the craft services table.

Lappegard Tribute THIS SATURDAY

ALLEY CAT: A TRIBUTE/BENEFIT IN MEMORY OF ERIC LAPPEGARD

What: Benefit to Honor Comic Artist & Bicycle Advocate Eric Lappegard

When: Saturday, September 8th, 2007. 2pm-10pm

Where:

Alley Cat Bike Race to begin at Behind Bars Bicycle Shop, 208 13th Ave NE, Minneapolis 2pm-5pm

Comic Art Show & Silent Auction at Altered Esthetics, 1224 Quincy St. NE, Minneapolis 5pm-10pm

A Raffle and Vegan Bake Sale will also take place at Altered Esthetics. Raffle items have been donated by local businesses and include something for everyone.

Minneapolis / St. Paul: Beloved local comic artist and bicycle advocate Eric Lappegard passed away on July 23rd from complications following an automobile accident. Eric was in the process of moving from Minneapolis to Portland, Oregon, when the accident occurred. Originally from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Eric had spent the last number of years in Minneapolis, where he worked as a bicycle messenger and coffee shop java-slinger, artist, community organizer and bicycle advocate.

Eric (a.k.a. Schmapples, a.k.a. Vegan Ninja) was an active member of the local comics collective The International Cartoonist Conspiracy, as well as a founding member of The Minneapolis Bicycle Federation, a group that advocates for a better cycling environment. Eric was a friendly face around town, a vegan who championed animal rights and environmental sustainability, and a friend to many people across the community. He will be greatly missed.

On Saturday, September 8th, friends of Eric are partnering with local businesses and arts organizations to pay tribute to a dear friend and important member of the art, music, and bicycling communities. All proceeds from the event will go to Eric's family to aid them with expenses incurred as a result of this tragic accident.

The Schmapples Tribute event will include a messenger-style alley cat bike race beginning at Behind Bars Bicycle Shop in Northeast Minneapolis.

Eric's artwork, as well as donated artwork from local artists & members of the Cartoonist Conspiracy (cartoonistconspiracy.com), will be on display at Altered Esthetics (alteredesthetics.com) all day Saturday, with a silent auction and reception to begin at 5:00pm. Two original publications, "ALLEY CAT: A TRIBUTE TO ERIC LAPPEGARD" and "SCHMAPPLES: THE COLLECTED ONLINE COMIC by: Eric Lappegard", have been created specifically for this event & will be on sale. Additional items for auction will be included, including gift certificates and highly-desirable items from local bicycle, comic and other businesses. Live music will be provided by the Roe Family Singers.

Raffle tickets can be purchased for $5. Prizes include artwork, comics, gift certificates and custom bicycle parts and products. A Vegan Bake Sale will also help to raise funds for the Lappegard family.

For a complete schedule of events visit:
http://myspace.com/ericlappegardtribute

Far Arden: Chapter Eleven

Witness the latest installment of Far Arden, a novel of love and regret in the Canadian arctic.


Read Chapter Eleven.
Start from the beginning.