WONDERCON 2014, ANAHEIM CA!

     I'll be at WonderCon with my comics/graphic novels/Glitter Gaybies/Smells Like Library!
     On Saturday I'll be signing at the Prism Comics booth from 1pm-2pm. (Also probably on Sunday after the panel discussion)
     On Sunday I'll be on a panel discussion, and here are the details:
We're Here, We're Queer, Now What? - New Direction in LGBTQ Comics
Sunday, 4/20/14, 11:30a.m. - 12:30p.m.
Room: 210A
More lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters are making their mark on all corners of the comics world than ever before.   How do LGBTQ comics creators push the boundaries in a world where acceptance is more the norm?  Join creators Tommy Kovac (Skelebunnies, The Royal Historian of Oz), Ed Luce (Wuvable Oaf), Josh Trujillo (Love Machines, Anything That Loves), Shayna Why (Overshare Party) and others to be announced as they explore new directions and neglected subjects in LGBTQ-themed comics, how technology is changing the way people relate to each other and new methods of publishing comics.  Presented by Prism Comics and moderated by Roger Klorese (Board Member, Prism Comics).

     Spoiler alert: I have no idea what the new direction is for LGBTQ comics. North?

MY SPECIAL DRAWING GLOVE


     I have big fat sweaty Slovak hands that tend to smudge and smear when I'm drawing. I usually have a scrap of paper underneath my hand to prevent that, but it occurred to me that I could use a fingerless glove instead, so I'm not always looking for scraps of paper or whatever. I'll probably have to wash the glove sometimes, but I think this is nicer.
     I blurred the piece I'm working on because it's for an upcoming Haunted Mansion-themed group art show at Bats Day in the Park Black Market, and we're not supposed to reveal any of our artwork until the show. Which is Saturday, May 17th, 2014.
     ALSO GLOVE-RELATED: I have to wear a napping glove to keep me from picking at some truly gross hangnails while I'm napping. I can't stop picking and prodding at them! One is totally sore and I'll probably have to just cut that finger off if I can't stop mashing at it. I'd wear the glove during the day, too, but it would prompt too many questions, and possibly lead to a Michael Jackson comparison, which I do not want.
     The napping glove looks like this:

     I also have a pair of skeleton gloves like this:

     -But the "bones" are 3D plastic or whatever, which makes them really awkward for anything other than a costume. If you're in the dark, though, they look pretty realistic and spooky, and it's fun to suddenly reach out with them and make somebody pee their pants. (probably myself)

ORIGINAL ART : Doctor's Office Waiting Room Doodles

     I went with Anthony today to his doctor's appointment. Nothing major, just routine stuff. But we got stuck waiting for quite some time in one of those typical dingy waiting rooms, with nothing but strangers and medical posters to look at. So I doodled.








This is a puppet with legs and peener. He is projectile vomiting. This doesn't really have anything to do with a waiting room, because I was running out of ideas.

MAN, MYTH, & MAGIC : Creepy Kitties


     Just thought I'd share this. Issue #15 of Man Myth & Magic: An illustrated encyclopedia of the supernatural. I rescued it from some library or something at some point, enough years ago that I don't remember. I just know it's old and weird. I only have the cover of this issue left. It's from 1970, and the caption for the cover image reads:

Cats' wedding: 
exhibit in Potter's Museum at Bramber, Sussex 
Brian Netscher

PONY COMPETITION

     I found a great shelf in an antique store that I knew would be perfect for displaying My Little Ponys. All it needed was a new paint job. The problem is there are only 18 spots, and I'll have to select the very best ones out of my collection of over 70 ponies. I have new ones, old ones from the '80s, and random ones from decades between then and now. I appreciate the newer Friendship Is Magic ponies, but I prefer the vintage 1980s originals, especially when they started getting really weird and doing carousel ponies, glitter ponies, and ponies that aren't even ponies. (camel, zebra, lion, giraffe, etc.)
   
Pony Competition Staging Area

     All ponies gather in a staging area on the card catalog beneath the display shelf, to await judgement.

Tier One of nervous contestants

     Some ponies, like some people, just aren't good enough. Some of them wonder, "Am I too dirty? Mane too tangled?" 
     One vintage pony notices newer ponies scoffing at her partially rubbed off cutie mark. She lowers her head, hope fading with the sunset.

Tier 2 pony contestants wonder, "Are we on the lower tier for a reason? Did we do something wrong?"
Baby Rattles: ridden hard and put away wet?
     Baby Rattles is clearly vintage, and looking the worse for wear. He (she?) is a sleepy-time pony whose eyes are supposed to close when you tip her back into sleeping position. They only partially work now, and are pink-tinged and swollen around the edges. Has she been crying?
     Buck up, Baby Rattles. Judgement Day is upon you.

(to be continued)

ORIGINAL ART : Santa & His Elf (the e-card version)


     This is a drawing I did last week, but I've colored it in Photoshop and added a cheery caption so it's like an e-card now.
     I was inspired to make the drawing into a card because I received a Christmas card from Bentley Little, who is one of my favorite horror writers. He always designs his own scary/snarky Christmas cards, and I feel lucky to be on the list of recipients. Here's a combined scan of the front and inside of this year's card:

     In case you have trouble reading it, the inscription says, "Happy Holidays! (don't tell Sarah Palin, but I am a major general in the liberal/gay/atheist/Jewish war on Christmas)"

ORIGINAL ART : Old-skool Courtney Love


     I sketched this Thanksgiving morning 2013, before we went over to my mom and stepdad's house for dinner with everybody. Not sure why, just to pass the time I guess. Then later when we got home and I felt disgustingly stuffed, I felt compelled to color it. Finished it this morning. It's Black Friday. I wish I could go out and buy a doll of old-skool Courtney. One that smokes and vomits. With a lever on her back. When you press the lever, her arm throws a high-heel shoe at a Kathleen Hanna doll. (Kathleen Hanna doll sold separately.)

NaNoWriMo 2013 : BLOOD RUNS BACKWARDS

The NaNoWriMo site encourages you to create a cover image, so I made this tonight when I should have been at the grocery store.

     At first I thought I'd try to finish my middle-grade fantasy novel, "The Weirdling Woods," during November's NaNoWriMo challenge to complete a 50,000 word novel.
     Then I read the NaNoWriMo FAQ and saw that you are absolutely forbidden to use existing prose, and are supposed to come up with something original to start and finish all in one month. (I've already written about 7 chapters of The Weirdling Woods, so that's out!)
     A few days before November 1st I put together a quick outline for a supernatural horror novel. Why not, right? It's my absolute favorite genre. My inspiration was a weird Slovak nursery rhyme my Grandma used to tell us kids, accompanied by tickling her fingers up and down the insides of our arms so that we giggled. Little did we know, until someone finally asked her to translate what it meant, that the tickling down our arms was BLOOD running out.
     I've written 10,000 words so far of this thing that's not for kids, and it's not a comic book. I'm trying something new. Sort of.
     Before I jumped into making comics, I had written a slew of short horror fiction in my late teens and very early 20s, none of which saw publication. Not that I didn't try. But it was the comics that got me published, and that was a lot of fun.
     I would still like to come up with a horror novel manuscript that I feel confident enough to submit somewhere for publication.
     It's still like a big unwieldy lump of raw clay that is just beginning to shape up into something, but here's the initial brief synopsis for BLOOD RUNS BACKWARDS:

Seb, curator of a small art gallery, is preparing an installation of "blood poppets" made by his grandmother, who is currently incarcerated in a psych ward for attempting to poison Seb and his 2 cousins. As he delves deeper into his family's mysterious ways, a creature called the Blood Hound comes hunting those of his grandmother's bloodline. Is Seb as crazy as his grandmother, or should he believe the uncanny things he begins to experience?

     Here's a brief excerpt:

     In the dirty light from a buzzing security lamp near my truck, something moved feebly near my feet. I gasped and jumped back.
     I had almost stepped on it. A horrible, twisted creature lying on the gravel.
     "Oh, god!" I panted, gulping and pulling the coat tighter around my chest.
     It was about the size of a very small cat, but with a pointed pink snout, and matted fur sticking up in mangled tufts. It looked wet. It hissed weakly, showing tiny pointed teeth. There was red in its mouth, and red in its fur. Its body was contorted in such a way that I couldn't tell if it was even all there, or if some of the sticky wetness was exposed entrails. One skinny limb twitched. Naked toes splayed.


ANTHONY'S BIRTHDAY (stuff I made for it)

     This is a way belated post, because Anthony's birthday is August 22nd. I sort of forgot I had started this post. Now it's Halloween, and we're waiting to see if we get (m)any trick-or-treaters, so I'm just sittin' here killing time.
     Here's the peanut butter and chocolate cake I made:

Recipe below, at end of post...

     Below is one of the presents I wrapped to make it look like a happy little birthday fellow. I feel this is something Martha Stewart might do if she had a sense of humor, or was human.
     (But don't get me wrong, I love Martha just the way she is. Stern, exacting, made of steel...)


     Here's another whimsical birthday fellow I made. Notice he even has weak little arms and legs made of glittery tinsel! He can't really walk with them. But he makes the best of his short existence. He will soon be torn apart.


My special secret for Anthony's cake was to substitute PEANUT BUTTER CHIPS for the regular ol' chocolate chips. Because Anthony is a peanut butter fiend, and that cake is loaded with chocolate enough already.
     Incidentally, the recipe card you see above is from a cookbook put together by a bunch of parents as some sort of fund-raiser I think, way back when I was in 6th grade at Cambridge Elementary in Orange, CA. (I'm 42 now, so that was, like, a LONG time ago.) We've kept that recipe in our family ever since because it's goooood, you guys!