ORIGINAL ART : Sketches


     My husband likes that guy. The doughy-looking one above.
     He also likes the lady in the middle, below:


     I'm partial to the angry child on the right, especially because that bicycle is so wrong. I knew it was way off when I was drawing it, so I added the bell as a distraction.

     These are the kinds of things I doodle on a Friday night when I've had a long week and just want to relax.

WONDERCON 2014 : Queer Directions panel

     Ed Luce (co-panelist) was kind enough to post a link to this article on Facebook, in which the journalist paraphrases our gay panel. Some of it is a little not-exactly-correct, but it's close enough and they said some very nice stuff about the panel overall. Too bad the photos weren't taken from a higher angle, and too bad they didn't use special flattering lighting on me, and maybe a wind machine. And vaseline on the lens.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/04/25/there-were-many-directions-for-new-directions-in-lgbtq-comics-at-wondercon/

WE'RE HERE, WE'RE QUEER, DON'T CUSS...

The innocuous front side of the nameplate
     Just finished 2 days at WonderCon 2014 in Anaheim. Love having it in our hometown.
     Prism Comics asked me to be on a panel discussion called "We're Here, We're Queer, Now What? New Directions in LGBTQ Comics," or something to that effect.
     I've been on numerous panels at comics conventions since I started doing comics back in 1999, but this is the first time I've seen a warning on the back of my nameplate. Well, not just mine, everybody's had this on the back:

     The moderator had mentioned the "18 Warning," or else I might not have noticed it. I think it was on the back of ALL the nameplates for the entire convention, I don't think it was just for the GAY panels. But it's stupid, right? It doesn't even specify what it's supposed to mean. It doesn't say don't cuss, or don't show dirty images, it just says "...be AWARE that many members of your audience may be under 18 years of age." Well, no shit. I'm aware. So fucking what?
     But because of that stupid warning and my "awareness" of it, I was saying something in response to the moderator's question, and instead of saying, "fucking" like I had intended, I stammered out the awkward, "effing." Which I hate. Hate it when people puss out and substitute that. It's not like anybody of any age is going to be unaware that it stands for the real F word.
     Sigh. Whatever. I think I said "shit," and maybe even blurted out an entire "fuck" during the panel. I just thought it was funny more than anything, having that impotent little warning staring at us, begging us to think of the children.
     The other 3 creators on the panel were talking about graphic lesbian sex, gay "bear" culture, bisexualism and various other things some people might find taboo. But we were all "aware." ;)
     I don't think we should shelter kids from the idea of free speech, right?
     After my brain has settled a little, I might post more details and thoughts on the convention. It was really fun, especially since we hadn't been to a comics convention in a few years.

     In case you're wondering, I was on the panel with the following creators:
Josh Trujillo
Ed Luce
Shayna Why
Roger Klorese (moderator)