The above self-portrait of me toiling at the drawing board symbolizes that today is the day I launched the website I have been planning and plotting for a while now…

After I finished the third issue of I Cut My Hair I started thinking that I wanted to move away from autobio. Part of this was a hang up about not wanting to be seen as “just” an autobio cartoonist, which is silly because I read and love lots of autobiographical work. But it was also a desire to take on something new: I want to do more fiction, and I want to get better at it. So I decided that “I Cut My Hair” would become an ongoing collection of stories, not all of which would be about me and my life. Putting it online seemed like a good idea not just so that more people could access my comics more easily, but also so that I would have a regular weekly update schedule to hold myself to. I’m looking forward to the improvement that inevitably comes from such regular practice. I also wanted to have a place to point people to where they could see my most up-to-date work.

I’ll put up a new page every Sunday, which will either be a one-pager or one page of a longer story. I plan on experimenting with different styles, genres, page layouts, coloring methods…maybe my long-percolating YA graphic novel story will even get serialized at the site. Who knows?

Anyway please do go check out the site, it’s got my first comic up as well as an intro post. Feedback is always welcome! Oh and a very special thanks to my studiomate Les McClaine, whose website-making know-how got this new project off the ground.

The Wordstock festival happened here a few months ago–a celebration of reading, the indoor activity Portlanders will be doing lots more of soon. A variety of printers, bookstores, and publishers exhibited at the Convention Center while authors and others involved in the literary arts spoke at lectures and on panels. Tranquility Base tabled there for the first time ever, selling our collective wares and talking up our studio.

We even had a drafting desk set up, so that we could do drawing and inking demos for the crowds:

The show wasn’t quite comics-centered, but it was fun to hang with the studiomates, and as this was a family-friendly event I talked to lots of adorable children about comics.

I’ve also just wrapped up a project I’m really excited about: a five-page story for the inaugural issue of The Strumpet, which will be released in mid-November. The Strumpet grew out of the comics series/collective Whores of Mensa, but this time around it will feature artists from the US as well as the UK. I met editor Ellen Lindner at Stumptown Comics Fest 2011, and when she asked me in August if I’d like to be a Strumpet I jumped at the chance.

All the stories in the collection share the theme of “dressing up.” Mine is about a little monster who seems quite ordinary, and who loves his cats, and…well, why don’t you just watch this video Ellen put together, wherein I explain my story, give a quick tour of Tranquility Base, and say “um” a lot:

Here’s the first page:

…and one of my favorite parts of the whole thing–a Persian cat doing the Charleston:

If all this has got you ready to pre-order your copy RIGHT NOW, you are in luck! You can do so over at The Strumpet’s Kickstarter page.

Oh yeah, and you should read this neat interview over at Pikaland, where a few of us Strumpets discuss our comics, self-publishing/DIY stuff, and being a lady cartoonist, among other things.

Before I had really started working on the story, back in September, I got word that Dylan Williams had died. He was someone who I considered a friend and mentor. When I look back on my time in Portland so far, and reflect on the supportive comics community I found here, he was at the forefront of that for me. He was incredibly positive and encouraging. He made me feel like my comics and work had something to offer. And he gave me some opportunities I’m very thankful for–carrying my work through Sparkplug Comics, and inviting me to be a part of the Free Comic Book Day comic that he co-published. And I know that I had the kind of relationship to Dylan that so many others in comics did–I’m one of many cartoonists that he cheered on, empowered, got psyched up to draw! And I’m proud of that.

Dylan was, among many other things, a lover of cats. Working on this story, which is chock-full of goofy cat characters, I often thought to myself how much I wished I could show it to him. For that, and for everything, I dedicated this story to him. Thank you so much Dylan. I miss you.

Kinda sorta like breaking the 4th wall, maybe?

I intended for this to be amusing in an over-the-top-corniness kind of way, but maybe I’m also doing an imitation of any one of the more forgettable one-panel “Far Side” rip-off comics from your newspaper’s funny pages? Oh well, I still like it.

I also just wrapped up a four-page comic for Nicole Georges’ “Bad Roommate Zine.” The zine won’t be ready for the Symposium, but should be available soon and I’m really looking forward to reading all the other tales of cohabitation gone wrong. My piece is about a horrible past roommate and her really really horrible cat (actual names–both human and feline–were changed in the story). Here is my favorite panel from the whole thing. It may even be one of my favorite drawings I’ve ever made ever:

And in case you were wondering, yes, I did look up “cat puking” on Google image search for photo reference. Go ahead, try it yourself.

Also, I recently had the honor of being included in an art exhibit at Floating World Comics featuring the work of artists who have appeared in Tugboat Press’ “Papercutter” series. Here is an article about the show that includes interviews with me and Papercutter-ers Sarah Oleksyk, Aron Nels Steinke, and Greg Means. Our work will be up through the end of the month so if you’re in Portland you should go see it!

Although this trend of bodily harm (in comics form) may seem worrisome, things aren’t really all that bad. I think I’ve just been feeling the general exhaustion of the end-of-school year time. For one thing, even though the end of school should feel like a relief, it’s also a time of transition. Less time spent working in the school means more time to work on comics, which is great, but it also means a mental shifting of gears as I attempt to create and maintain a new comics-making schedule. Also this has been a pretty difficult school year, with a major push towards the end that consisted of coaching our students through final exams, Saturday study sessions, year-end events, and hours of paperwork and data entry. Much like the last leg of a race, it’s exhausting, and made me want to sit down, a little dazed, to catch my breath. Also it felt like the end was never actually going to come! There was always one more thing to do, and it’s only in the last few days that I’ve felt the dust has really begun to settle.

But! A few more sunny days and I’m sure I’ll feel re-charged. This week’s project: an autobiographical story for an upcoming anthology about bad roommates. Previews to follow shortly.

Now I feel a little better. Also, have resolved to mess around with grey washes more.

I exhibited at three shows in March and April: Seattle’s Emerald City Comic Con, New York’s MoCCA Festival, and Stumptown Comics Fest here in Portland, Oregon. I wasn’t great at photodocumenting these conventions, but I did wrangle at least one at-my-table shot for each. Here I am with friend and studiomate Sarah Oleksyk at Emerald City (photo credit goes to studiomate Jon Siruno:

At MoCCA I shared a table with Aron Nels Steinke. (Photo credit goes to my mom. Thanks, Mom):

…and then Sarah and I reunited in Portland. Here we are at our Stumptown table, looking glamorous/tired:

First up, Emerald City. I had been once before, as an attendee at last year’s show (where I sadly arrived too late to make it into a talk by special guest Leonard Nimoy). While it was a fun time I’m not sure I would have chosen to exhibit there, as it seemed to me mostly a mainstream comics crowd. But some of my Tranquility Base studiomates were going in on a block of tables so I figured I’d join them. And I’m really glad I did…before too long I had decided that Emerald City had become my new favorite. For one thing, my fears about being relegated to a deserted indie cartoonist/self-publisher area of the con floor were unfounded, as the crowds were so large that Sarah and I got lots of foot traffic coming by our table. I also really appreciated all the different kinds of comics fans that were in attendance…indie comics people, collectors, scifi enthusiasts, mainstream comics lovers, Trekkies who were clamoring to get their pictures taken with William Shatner and/or Brent Spiner. And the costumery! This was the first show I’ve ever been to where so many people were dressed in costume (never been to San Diego, obviously), and I freaking loved it. Look at this adorable baby Vulcan! I squealed with glee when these guys came by my table:

Also there was a whole lot of Doctor Who going on. I didn’t get a photo of my favorite example, a poufy Dalek-dress, but here is a crew in front of my studiomate Indigo Kelleigh’s table, promoting his comic The Adventures of Ellie Connelly. (Tranquility Base-er Joe Keatinge is one table over, but you can’t see him):

(as you can see, there *is * a Tardis-dress in this one)

All in all this show put me on an absolute high. The driving-induced exhaustion that set in shortly after I set up my table on Friday quickly gave way to excitement, as I stopped to realize how comfortable I feel at conventions now, and how far I’ve come from my first attempts at putting out my own work. I still think I have a ways to go, comics-wise, but now I have a better idea of how to get there, and a bunch of ideas for projects to focus on in the coming months and years. I also got some press, which was nice: Sarah and I were both included in this convention write up over at comixology, and Patti Martinson of sequentialtart set up an interview with me, which you can read here.

I spent a lot of time behind my table, but I did I meet Matthew Ocasio of The Matter, as well as Sophie Yanow, and got a copy of her amazing Norse mythology-themed 24-hour-comic “Blar.” I also ventured over to the table of MAD Magazine superstar Sergio Aragones. After waiting in line behind a whole bunch of adoring fans getting custom sketches, I gave him one of my postcards and told him I love his work–then he stood up and gave me a hug! It was pretty amazing.

…but let’s back up to a few weeks before all this, when my studiomate BT Livermore offered me a spot in a comics-themed gallery show, if I had a new book out for Stumptown Comics Fest. I already had an idea for a minicomic brewing–the story of a breakup as told through the increasingly bad habits of the dumpee–but I probably would not have pushed myself to finish it so soon had it not been for BT’s offer. I started drawing shortly after Emerald City and the day before I left for New York he and I hung the pages I had completed so far in the IPRC gallery. Unfortunately I was due to fly out on opening night, but here are some shots of the display:

I headed to MoCCA with pencils, pens, and bristol board in tow, where Aron and I drew alongside each other during the show. When I wasn’t frantically trying to pencil in as many panels as possible, greeting table visitors, or walking around the floor, I spent time talking with awesome table-neighbors Greg from Tugboat Press, Alec Longstreth, and Galen Longstreth, with whom I swapped tales of Garden State living. Also got some new (to me) Little Garden comics from Darryl Ayo. But the highlight of MoCCA was having my parents in attendance. They had never been to a comics show before! (“Its…a lot!”-my dad).

After a day of penciling at airport gates and on the plane, I returned to Portland and did my best to keep up the comics-making pace with a week to spare before Stumptown. It was just like being in college again, but instead of spending a series of three-hours-of-sleep nights trying to bust out a twenty-page term paper, I was trying to bust out a thirty-page comic, and reproduce it. The situation started looking grim around 2 am on the first day of the show, but I knew I had to follow through on my commitment and get this thing done. By the time I finally got to the 24-hour Kinko’s it was around 4:30 am. I laid out pages, photocopied, and stapled until around 6 (when I started having minor hallucinations that the ground was moving), then headed home for approximately two hours of sleep before heading to the Convention Center. Brutal though the week was, it was totally worth going through it to have a new comic for sale. And it was a heartening experience to have sheer determination and dedication to making comics produce enough adrenaline to fuel me through it–I did duck out to nap in my backseat for an hour on Saturday, but other than that I was fully awake and invigorated by the show (and caffeine). The comic itself is titled “Painful Vices: A Tale of Bad Habits” and I plan to get the entirety of it up in the comics section in the next few weeks.

The rest of Stumptown was fantastic. I had a great time at the table talking up my work and hanging out with Sarah and BT. I also roamed the floor quite a bit and let myself indulge in far more purchases than usual. Some of my favorite haul items: “Gingerbread Girl” by Colleen Coover and Paul Tobin, the third “Beanworld” book by Larry Marder, “Stupid Dreams” by Joey Alison Sayers, a whole bunch of great minicomics by Neal Brideau, “Airship” by Sarah McIntyre, Jen Vaughn’s newest comic “Heavy Flow,” and “Undertow” by Ellen Lindner.

All in all, an amazing few months. Granted, I have taken some much needed time to relax (and sleep) in these post-convention weeks, but more than anything these shows have gotten me really excited for the work to come, including a comic about Portland’s Chinatown and a graphic novel script. Stay tuned!

(photo courtesy Deborah Lipski)

…and feel free to check out the muppet countenances of my Tranquilty Base studiomates at our blog.

Also, way back in the damp and chilly days of February I was included in the Moby Dick-themed “Take To The Ship” art show at the Independent Publishing Resource Center. I set out to make a one-page comic, but never having read the book I headed to its Wikipedia entry for some inspiration. Once I found out that Moby Dick is in fact a sperm whale, the thing just wrote itself. My propensity for gross-out humor is only encouraged by the fact that I work with high school freshmen. Here is the finished piece (click for a slightly larger version):

Happy spring!