The title says it all, really. Geoff from the museum contacted me and I was, of course, honored and eager to help out. I can now say my work has been shown in a museum! In London!
I made a little video. You can view it when you click here.
Tonight, instead of giving two tugs of a dead dog’s cock about Andrew Garfield (who seems very nice, yes) appearing at Comic-Con and delivering a (quite good) piece of nerd polemic at the panel for Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man, I saw two women that mean (and will always, hopefully) the world to me, Sarah and Cathy. We talked about our mutual obsessions and interests, our highs and lows, our ins and our outs and most of all, we talked about real connections between people that weren’t based entirely on corporate-owned properties that we’ll never touch.
I am sure Garfield is a very nice young man; I’m sure the people who are making new movies on the things that you liked when you were 9 are decent enough, and I am sure that you don’t care about the stuff that I make, but I just want to say, to reiterate, how very lucky I am to have amazing friends who help me make things that are my own.
No offense, Andrew Garfield or Sony Pictures or director(…wait, who directed this one?) but I am happiest doing what I do, with people that push me and inspire me in ways that I can’t quantify. I just wish all creatives could feel the same way.
(Yes, I’ve been drinking. Suck it.)
I’m on the new installment of War Rocket Ajax. I am pretty awful. I ramble and digress and just basically make an ass of myself.
You’ll probably really enjoy it.
Me? I come home two weeks later to discover that I actually did buy that limited-edition Human After All remix disc with Kubrick figures of Daft Punk from that guy in Japan while under the influence of a perfectly indecent number of vodka tonics instead of just strongly considering it.
Oops.
My friend Jackie works with Young Audiences of Massachusetts and they’re looking for a comics artist/graphic novelist to help them out with their programming. You should have some experience working with students and be interested in working in schools. You’ll also have to be available during the day (as you’ll be visiting area schools,) but they can work around your schedule. Young Audience Of Massachusetts is a good organization doing good work and I think that creators looking to expand their repertoire and earn a little extra bank could do much worse than talking to them about this opportunity. You’d have flexibility, resume fodder, and a chance to help make sure the next generation isn’t the worst generation.
Email jarko@yamass.org to get more information.
It’s right here. I’m planning on linkblogging there almost exclusively, so don’t expect anything mega.
A bit over four years ago, I wrote this review of How To Make Money Like A Porn Star, a book that I was not kind to. In fact, the sole exception to my fairly nasty screed was a brief portion in which I talked about Bernard Chang’s art, which I said reminded me of a more varied Phil Noto. I also said that I wanted to see him draw comics that weren’t so aggressively stupid. To be frank, Neil Strauss’s misogynistic, mean-spirited script deserved worse than I gave, and Chang’s work deserved more praise than I could muster.
Yesterday, I approached Chang’s table in Artist Alley at the New York Comic-Con and said that I liked what I’d seen from him lately. Chang told me that he wanted to kick my ass and that “if I were you, I’d leave right now.”
Today, Bernard Chang was announced as the new artist on Supergirl, working with Nick Spencer, a writer whose work I’ve very much enjoyed.
Bernard Chang, I hope you treat your peers better than the people who have praised your work in the past.
Despite the best efforts of those who went back for another day of crowd-dodging and slow, grinding terror, I opted to spend this Sunday in New York fairly quietly, spending time with some of my favorite human beings: Deb Aoki and the Horns: Paul and Darlene. Brunch at The Spotted Pig (note-perfect, across the board) and leisurely consumerism that grew to a fever pitch once Paul and Darlene went off to the convention and Deb and myself were left to our own devices with a fantastic chocolatier and Jack Spade store within easy walking distance. I’m pretty sure that my banker will give me a look with no small amount of askance once the charges roll in.
Yesterday was, despite the overbearing crush of humanity, a very nice time at the convention and afterwards. Pal Robin (who ably takes on the role of Filthy Assistant in a bit I’m swiping wholesale from Saint Ellis of Blighty and no I don’t care if he sends Suicide Girls to trim my bits,) and myself made our way onto the floor and got to spend a decent amount of time with a nice swath of friends, collaborators and creators whose work we enjoy. If I try to name them all, I’ll leave someone out and I’ll hear no end to it, but there were several Agreeable Comics types, a Korean rapper, more than a few writers, a teenager that should know better than to hang out with us, and Chris Sims involved in the shenanigans and I had an absolute blast.
The best part of these shows is spending time with people I genuinely like. Without a table or product to sell, there’s only so much for me to do. I attended the (very funny and smart) Comics Alliance panel because it really is the best comics site out there, but I can’t imagine sitting in a room full of people who think that Stephanie Brown is real and hearing them complain about how Grant Morrison changed Jason Todd’s hair color and not wanting to look into a way to make an aerosol version of Chinese Syphilis to unleash on the populace.
Another vodka tonic (Grey Goose because mother raised me right) and a cab ride to the train to Boston and then back to real world. I had a terrific time, New York City, and my only wish is that I could have spent additional time with more of you.
Heading to New York City on the Acela, the closest thing we have to a high-speed rail here in the US. I understand that in Japan, they have trains that bend light in front of them and have been known to arrive at their destination before they depart, but America is America and loves its individual conveyances and a lack of tentacles in our pornography. The Acela is sixty bucks more and it gets there a whopping thirty minutes ahead of a conventional train, but it’s comfortable and offers amenities like legroom, clean air, a “café car” serving up the finest in microwavable cuisine and full-release massages for the business traveler. Yes, the bus is much cheaper, but I steadfastly refuse to ride in the myriad array of torture chambers on wheels that comprise that particular option. While I may have to worry about a derailing caused by wet leaves on the track (yes, that is an actual thing they’ve warned us about via signage at South Station,) at least I’m able to stretch my legs and savor air that isn’t 35% fart.
I’ve had the Adam WarRock album in my iPod since about 5:30 yesterday morning and I’ve yet to give it a listen. I suppose this makes me the worst of friends, but there’s something about Euge’s delivery that demands your attention. I told someone it was like the first time I heard Kanye West’s Graduation and had to sit down and pay attention to the album three or four times before I could do anything besides listen to that album. Hopefully, I can use this train time to get around to rectifying this particular matter.
While I was at the train station, I had a microphone shoved in my face and was asked if I wanted to be on Channel 7 news. They wanted to know what I thought about Amtrak’s more visible security presence, with sniffer dogs and armed guards wandering the terminal. I babbled for a moment or two about game theory’s applications to anti-terrorism efforts, security showmanship and how private security forces make me a bit nervous. If they use any of it, it’ll be a miracle. I imagine they could string the “ums” together to create a polyphonic arpeggio suitable for an underground dance track, but it’s more likely that they’ll cut it so I say something like “Armed security guys…make me…feel safe.”
See some of you in New York. There’s a new post up at The Rack, but it’s basically about how there’s not a strip today and why.
No prize, no contest, no nothing. I just feel a bit more chatty than usual. Ask questions about stuff, I’ll answer them! (Note: I will not answer personal questions out of respect to the deceased and barely-living that are trapped in my basement.)
Short version, for those of you who want to get to the heart of the matter:
Oh, fuck yes.
Longer version, for those of you who require nuance and such in your commentary:
Oh fuck yes, you guys.
Seriously, such a pleasure to use and while I am halfway in the bag for Apple, I tend to err on the side of wanting platforms that do exactly what I want to do when I want to do them. For the last year or so, I’ve used a Windows XP netbook as my main writing/work/whatever device when not at home, and it’s worked perfectly well for me. The iPad, however, does exactly what I use the Netbook for: email, websurfing, porn, but with better battery life and less of a reliance on the, shall we say “quirks” that Microsoft’s operating systems have. I’ve not been interrupted once this week with a security update or needing to get a driver to do something basic, and everything just works. I’m a big fan of “just working,” particularly when it comes to things like the internet, wireless, etc. It’s what I like about my iMac at home, and it’s actually what I like about the XBox and Zune platforms as well. Others view this as removing choices from your experience, and while I can see their point of view in some sort of “smash the system, rah, open source everything” way, I also simply don’t have the time to fuck around and I want to do what I need to do.
Question One You Might Have: Do I miss Flash?
No, not really. Most of the things Flash is used for are things I don’t really do that much with my portable platforms. I don’t play a lot of Flash games, I don’t spend a lot of time on video sites that aren’t YouTube (which has an app included in the iPad OS.)
Question Two You Might Have: How’s the battery life?
Splendid. I’ve been out with my iPad with Bluetooth running (for the wireless keyboad — more on that in the next bit) and I’ve used 10% of the battery life in an hour and change while using WiFi. 3G does strain it a bit more and I’m sure if I were watching HD video, it’d drop faster, but with consistent general use, I’ve been charging at the end of the day with 30-40% of the battery life still available.
Question Three You Might Have: How’s the keyboard built into the OS?
It’s pretty good for short emails, Tweets, etc. Apple has a bluetooth wireless keyboard that’s about $60 that is lightweight and easy to toss into your bag. I use it and love it, but I presume any Bluetooth keyboard would do.
Question Four You Might Have: Comics?
Putting aside my disdain for some of the interface quirks in the Marvel/Comixology app (and the fact they need to trim the white space of their pages to maximize the art-to-screen-ratio on older material,) they are pretty fucking great. I’m now seriously interested in producing comics for this platform.
If you have more questions, ask!
Derek from Ottawa won the last contest, walking away with some Blade comics and the pride of knowing he’s the last winner of my quasi-weekly contests…for now. What was originally meant to have gone on for a year has been truncated by the fact that I need to get rid of stuff much, much more quickly than the weekly drip allows. Thank you to everyone who participated and I’m pretty sure I’ll come up with something similar in the near future.
TJ’s in the middle of multiple deadlines for real-world, actually-paying comics and sometimes, something’s gotta give. You’ll be seeing his work in multiple books for Oni soon, including a backup in Resurrection (which also featured Chris Sims, Chad Bowers and Rusty Shackles in a recent backup) and a short in Jam! Tales From The World Of Roller Derby, and I’m pretty sure you’re going to want to check out his work in those. TJ also did some very stunning work for Sam Costello’s Split Lip horror webcomic (traitor!) that you should be seeing pretty soon.
Also, he drew me a Wolverine at the Boston Comic Con to shut me up, so here it is. I now want to do a Wolverine comic with him that’s literally just eight pages of Wolverine in a bar fight, not popping his claws, just straight up wailing on dudes. Marvel, you have my contact information.
I want you to think about what you’ve done and apologize to the rest of the class.
